


Losing Control

by HarleysAStarBoi



Category: Spider-Man (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Explicit Language, Hurt Peter Parker, Identity Reveal, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Break, Peter Parker has the Carnage Symbiote, Protective Harry Osborn, Protective Otto Octavius, Spider Squad, Spider-Man Identity Reveal, Stabbing, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25560727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarleysAStarBoi/pseuds/HarleysAStarBoi
Summary: No matter how hard he tried to pick up his feet to walk over, he just couldn’t. His phone began to ring and Peter really pushed himself to get it. His hands had begun shaking violently and he felt tears in his eyes. Then, he heard a voice in his head not unlike Venoms’.Tell anyone about this and your precious May Parker is dead.Peter gasped, feeling his heart thundering against his ribcage. After a few more seconds of paralysis, he could move. Tears formulated in his eyes, and he let out a horrified cry. He stumbled back into the wall and slid onto the ground. His breath wavered as he was overcome with horror. He tried to regain his breath, but he broke down sobbing. Tears streamed down his face as he realized how bad of a situation he was really in.***Written with @fandomsumthing on Tumblr
Relationships: Anya Sofia Corazon/Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn/Peter Parker, Miles Morales & Peter Parker, Otto Octavius & Peter Parker
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	Losing Control

Peter stared at the red-haired man, who was bleeding from his side and had an insane smile on his face. Just being near this man had put his spidey-sense into a strange frenzy. But he couldn’t attack the man, no matter how much he wanted to, as he held Harry close to his side, a gun pressing harshly into Harry’s temple, Harry’s helmet discarded and broken to the side. “Now, I really want to kill this one, but I’m not in charge here.” The man hissed, looking irritated. “We can just call it a day, all you have to do is meet my one request.” 

Peter shifted hesitantly. He didn’t want to comply with a villain, but Harry’s tech was disabled from some strange shockwave the man had used before, so he didn’t face much of a choice. “What is it?” Peter hissed unhappily. 

He would do anything to save his boyfriend, no matter how… unsettling it may be. The man smirked and reached into his bag, careful not to loosen his grip on Harry. He pulled out a water bottle filled with a red liquid and tossed it to Peter. He caught it and looked at the man. “What is this?” He asked, looking uneasy. 

The man smirked. “You’ll find out. I’ll go quietly, all you have to do is drink it.”

Harry jolted immediately. “Don’t-”

Before he could finish, the man pushed the gun harder into his temple. Peter jumped. Neither of them could contact backup, he had no other choice. He lifted his mask just enough to clear his mask. He took a breath, muttered, “Down the hatch,” plugged his nose, and chugged it quickly.

“Spider-Man- no!” Harry screamed. 

Peter knew he’d get an earful from Harry later, that was if this drink didn’t kill him first. The man smirked and released Harry. “True to my word.” 

Quickly, Peter ran to Harry's side, while also webbing the gun away from the man. "Are you okay?" Harry nodded. 

Peter looked around for a moment before sighing. "I'll go get some officers. I don't trust this guy to stay in my webs." He said. 

Harry gave him a hesitant look but nodded. "Okay." Peter quickly left as Harry was left to watch the man, feeling pissed. “What was in the bottle?” Harry asked.

“Are you going to bug me if I don’t tell you?” The man asked, his expression amused.

“What was in the bottle?” Harry repeated, his voice conveying that he wasn’t in a joking mood.

“Fine, I’ll tell ya. You may have a tipsy Spidey on your hands now!” The man said then laughed. Harry sighed in relief, knowing that Peter can handle his alcohol.

Peter returned with three cops and the man put his hands up. One of the cops took his gun, before cuffing him and bringing him outside.

The two made their way to the roof, tired from the fight. “You okay?” Peter asked, now examining Harry, looking for any cuts or bruises. 

“I’m fine, but are you okay? You did just drink an unknown substance.” Harry said, allowing Peter to take off his cracked helmet.

“It tasted like shit.” Peter joked, now letting his hand rest on Harry’s face.

“Maybe it was,” Harry said and Peter gagged, knowing that it was a possibility.

Harry smiled through his worry. “Come on, I just want to get you checked out by Otto,” Harry said, picking Peter up bridal style.

Peter shouted in alarm. “Harry! What are you doing?!” He yelped through his laughter.

Harry laughed happily, carrying him back to the Spiders Nest on his glider. When they arrived, the two told Otto what happened. “Are you insane?!” Otto screeched. “That could’ve been anything!” He cried out.

Harry sighed. “The man said that it was alcohol, but so far nothing like that has happened, right Pete?” 

Peter nodded. “Yeah. It tasted godawful, but I feel fine.” 

Much to Peter’s displeasure, Otto had sat him down and ran several tests. They all came up negative. After another hour of staying at the Spiders Nest, Otto turning to him every few moments with a worried look in his eye. Otto sighed uncomfortably. “I believe you will be alright. Whatever was supposed to happen doesn’t seem like it’s going to affect you. Thank your metabolism for that, but never drink any strange liquids like that again!” Otto scolded.

Peter put his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright! No drinking any strange liquids! Okay.” 

Peter stood up from the seat and stretched before going towards the window. “I’m heading back home. See ya guys!” He said and jumped out. 

The way back to his home was normal. He landed near the window that leads to his bedroom and then opened it. As soon as he stepped into his room he was overcome with the fatigue from the day. He quickly changed out of his Spider suit and got into PJs before flopping onto his bed, passing out almost instantly. 

The next morning he felt… unusually exhausted. He groaned as he stood up and prepared for a day at Midtown. He felt sluggish as he prepared for the day. 

He took the subway as usual and was in an all-around bad mood. He spoke to Flash and Anna Maria briefly before going to class and laying his head down. He had a splitting headache and he knew that he would be more short-tempered than usual. Flash seemed to pick this up, having gotten to know Peter over the last couple of weeks. He stayed a distance from Peter but made sure nobody harmed him in any way.

Anna Maria also picked up on it and she alerted Ock. “I just don’t think he should be alone on patrol tonight. Maybe have a few of his spider friends help him out?” Anna Maria had said over the phone. Ock agreed to tell the others, but he doubted that Peter’s bad mood would affect his performance as Spider-Man. 

The time of Peter’s patrol rolled around and Peter was immediately out in his spider suit. Otto had tried calling him, but Peter refused to pick up. He noticed that Peter was a bit harsher on criminals and had a bad feeling. He pulled out his phone and sighed. As much as he disliked doing this, he didn’t have much of a choice. “Hello?”

“Hello, Osborn.”

“Oh, Octavius, what do you want?” Harry asked, seeming uneasy.

“Can you follow Parker? Something seems off with him, I believe he may be hiding an injury.” Otto requested.

There were a few moments of silence on the other end before Harry replied. “Yeah, yeah I can do that. Thanks for letting me know.” Harry replied.

Otto simply hummed in response, before hanging up. 

Peter hiding an injury wasn’t out of character for him. He’d have to have gotten it on his way home, Harry concluded. Once in his goblin armor, Harry left. He was able to find Peter sitting on top of a building and looking down at the city below.

“Hey, Pete. You doing okay?" Harry asked, sitting next to him. He wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulder only to have it shoved off.

“I’m fine,” Peter said with a harsh voice.

“Did something happen?” Harry asked now concerned. “You can tell me if something happened Peter.”

“Nothing happened,” Peter replied as he stood.

“Peter-” Harry stood up too.

“I’m fine! Okay?! I just don’t want to talk right now! Is that what you wanted to hear?!” Peter yelled before jumping off the building and swinging away.

Harry stood for a moment, bewildered. Peter’s snapped before. He’s seen it happen. But Peter has always been slow to anger, so for him to snap that quickly was alarming, to say the least. Harry called Otto. “Something’s wrong. He isn’t hurt, but something else is wrong with him.” Harry spoke as soon as Otto picked up.

“What do you mean?”

“I approached him and he just went off on me. I barely even did anything. Do you think it has anything to do with the weird liquid he had to drink last night?” Harry asked uncertainty.

He could hear Ock shift over the phone. “Maybe, but all the results came up negative.” He replied. 

“Maybe you missed a test. Can you just look over the data? Please? If something’s wrong, I want to fix it as soon as possible…” Harry asked.

He heard Ock sigh. “Alright, you follow Peter at a distance.” 

Harry nodded. “Will do.” 

The patrol was… odd to say the least. Peter had stopped a mugging but didn’t make his usual quips and he just handed the purse back to the woman. Usually, he’d offer to walk the woman out of the ally, but he didn’t even spare her a glance as he swung off. 

Harry stayed a far enough distance from his boyfriend, or at least he thought he did. He lost track of Peter near the end of his patrol. He began looking around for him, hoping that he wasn’t in any danger.

He took a rest on top of a building and heard someone clear their throat behind him. Harry turned around, prepared to fight, only to be faced with Spider-Man. His arms were crossed and his pissed off look could be seen through his mask.

“Why were you following me?” He hissed.

He felt guilty, knowing he was caught. “You just didn’t seem yourself. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Harry lied through his teeth.

He was incredibly thankful for his mask, knowing if Peter could see his face, he would know he was lying instantly. Peter’s eyes squinted. Harry knew that he was probably scowling under the mask and he couldn’t help but feel small under his lovers’ gaze. “Stay here. Stop following me.” Peter’s voice was unusually cold and it reminded Harry of when Peter was under the influence of Venom, but he knew Peter wouldn’t ever willingly take the Venom symbiote. Not after all that has happened with it. 

“Pet-“ 

“Enough. You either stay here or go home. If you follow me again, I’ll web you to a skyscraper. You got that, Osborn?” Peter hissed again. Harry was taken aback. Peter never used his last name unless if they were joking around, and even then it was few and far between.

When Harry nodded and Peter left, Harry just stood there for a while, not knowing what would make Peter act so different. He dialed Ock and once he picked up Harry immediately shared his worries.

“Something is definitely up. He just threatened me.” Harry said, hearing Ock hum.

“Maybe he’s stressed out? I mean, he did watch you get a gun pointed at your head. He could just need a little space. If this goes past two weeks then we should really be worried.” Ock replied.

Harry sighed and paced. “If Peter was stressed about me getting threatened, I can promise you he would not threaten me in response. He’d actually do the opposite. Usually, he just makes me stay at his place for a few days and kind of forces me to cuddle and watch movies. Like a really long date.” Harry huffed.

Otto didn’t reply for a moment. “Give him a few days then. If this continues, let me know. We can see if something is truly wrong.” 

Harry sighed again. “I just have a really bad feeling…”

~~~

Two days have passed and Peter knew there was something wrong with himself. He had convinced May that he was sick and really wasn’t up for school so he was able to stay home.in many ways, he did feel sick, so at least he wasn’t completely lying to May.

The day before he had snapped at anyone who gave him a wrong glance. If Flash hadn’t had held him back, then one kid would have been put in the hospital. Man, why did Flash have to be such a homie?

May had left for the day, which was good. He didn’t want to snap at her too. But that also left him home alone with a massive migraine and no one to help him get medication from downstairs.

Peter got out of his bed, his head starting to pound even harder. His eyes felt like they were popping out of his skull. He couldn’t make it downstairs like this but he didn’t want to deal with this bitch of a migraine without some Advil or something.

He grabbed the bottle and chugged down several pills. After chugging a few glasses of water, he stumbled back towards his room feeling like absolute shit. And not just physically. He had felt so guilty for snapping at Harry the way he had, but he just couldn't bring himself to call and apologize. He stopped to use the bathroom on the way but froze in front of the mirror. He rubbed his eyes for a moment, not believing what he was seeing. Then, he screamed and fell back. He recollected himself, jumped up, and nearly went nose to nose with the mirror. He wasn’t just seeing things. His eyes were red. And not just in the bloodshot sense, in the sense that his irises had changed from green to red.

His head spun as he sprinted to his room, and grabbed his phone. He fumbled it for a moment, before tapping Harry's icon. It rang for a few seconds before Peter ended the call. That action confused him, he didn’t mean to do that. So he called again only for the same thing to happen.

By the 7th time he’d thrown his phone against his wall and he could hear the screen shatter. He went to retrieve it because he didn’t mean to do that at all. The only thing stopping him from getting his phone was, well, himself. No matter how hard he tried to pick up his feet to walk over, he just couldn’t. His phone began to ring and Peter really pushed himself to get it. His hands had begun shaking violently and he felt tears in his eyes. Then, he heard a voice in his head not unlike Venoms’. **Tell anyone about this and your precious May Parker is dead.**

Peter gasped, feeling his heart thundering against his ribcage. After a few more seconds of paralysis, he could move. Tears formulated in his eyes, and he let out a horrified cry. He stumbled back into the wall and slid onto the ground. His breath wavered as he was overcome with horror. He tried to regain his breath, but he broke down sobbing. Tears streamed down his face as he realized how bad of a situation he was really in.

**What’s wrong? Is the late great Spider-Man scared?** Peter didn’t answer but instead thought of how he’d gotten rid of Venom, but he knew this wasn’t Venom.

“Who are you?” Peter asked, trying to silence his fears and worries for a couple of minutes. **I am Carnage and you are just a meat sack that’s going to help me with my plan. Got that?** Peter thought for a minute, think over his choices.

“What if I say no?” Peter asked. Not even a second after he said that and he felt something squeezing his heart and he let out a pained scream. **I’ll destroy you from the inside out after killing your friends.**

Peter gasped, clutching his chest desperately as he attempted to regain his breath. He felt whatever had grabbed his heart, release it. He took a deep breath, the pain still lingering. “Fine.” He hissed through his teeth.

Knowing he was at the mercy of… whatever the hell this symbiote was, he decided not to sit by and die, and instead do a little research. Carnage let him, as he grabbed his trusty laptop and began searching for whatever he could find. 

~~~

He searched for everything, from reports of when Venom first appeared in public to the lab results that were done when he was first made. Apparently, they had made another that was more violent and that they had lost. Peter could only guess that the lost symbiote was Carnage.

He did everything he could to leave notes on his computer and in his notebook. Then he found a website talking about symbiotes that were made from one of the leading researchers on them. It was a huge victory until Peter found himself, or Carnage, clicking out of it. Peter types it back in again and Carnage closing it again. Peter wrote down the URL in his notebook and Carnage seemed to be fine with that. If he couldn’t get the answers off of the website then someone else could.

He frowned when he heard the door click downstairs. Not having forgotten Carnage's threat, he closed his laptop and stumbled to his bed. He flopped down, and let out a heavy sigh. After about a minute, he heard the door to his room open. He was startled to realize, he didn't feel as scared as he probably should. In fact, his heart rate was fairly slow. It's probably Carnage doing something to make sure he doesn't call for help. After a moment, he felt May's hand on his shoulder. He kept his eyes closed and his breathing steady. After a moment, May moved her hand away and left. He felt a pang of guilt and longing. He didn't want to push the people he loved away, but he didn't have much of a choice. He'd have to pull it together for now until he gets rid of Carnage. He could hear Carnage laughing in the back of his mind. _I'm gonna get rid of you, Carnage. Count on that._

~~~

It had been a week and May had grown concerned. Peter had stopped coming out of his room. She had started bringing his meals up to his room, but even then she wasn’t allowed in. She had voiced her concerns but all she got back was “it’s for the best.” 

When it started to approach Saturday, May had had it. She ended up calling Harry. "Ms. Parker?" He asked, sounding confused. "What's up?"

"Hello, Harry. I need to ask something of you." She said, sounding concerned. 

"Shoot, what's up?"

"Could you and the rest of Peter's friends come over? I don't know what's wrong with him, he refuses to leave his room and he won't even talk to me. I'm getting very worried." May said, sounding sad. 

Harry shifted over the phone. "Yeah, of course. We'll be over there in an hour." He replied firmly. 

May smiled. "Thank you, Harry. I know you care about him."

Harry went silent over the phone for a moment, before sighing and replying. "I really do."

After May hung up, Harry shot Miles, Anya, and Gwen a text. He knew Anya and Gwen were on a rocky road with Peter, but he knew that they’d be willing to help.

He got replies that were along the lines of we’ll be there and Miles asking if Harry could pick him up. Miles’s text really meant that he wanted Harry to be next while he swung to Peter’s house.

Harry waited for Miles on top of the Oscorp building and once Miles swung by, Harry glided next to him.

“Do you have any idea why Peter’s being so moody?” Miles asked.

Harry let out a sigh. “No, not really. I think it has something to do with whatever he drank a couple of days ago.” He replied.

Miles stopped, looking confused. “What did he drink?” 

Harry proceeded to tell Miles what had happened the days prior. Miles shifted uncomfortably. “You don’t think it was some kind of poison, do you?” He asked.

Harry shook his head. “No, Ock checked for that.” 

The two arrived near Peter’s house and changed back. “I just hope he’s okay.” Harry murmured as they met Gwen and Anya, who were waiting at the end of the road. The two girls were talking to each other and when their friends arrived, they seemed to have a smug aura surrounding them.

“See Miles? We told you that Peter would start acting like a dick again.” Anya said.

“Oh my- This isn’t the time to be talking about this.” Miles scolded, now knocking on the door of Peter’s house.

May opened up quickly, smiling at the sight of the small group. “Thank you four for coming. Peter’s never acted this way before, I’m really worried that something might be wrong.” She replied earnestly. 

Harry smiled. “Of course, May. We all care about Peter, so if there’s anything we can do, we’re all willing to.”

He heard Anya and Gwen mutter something behind him. He gave them a quick warning glare before smiling at May again. May thanked him once again. “I was especially worried a few minutes ago. I heard a loud crash, and when I called up the stairs to see what happened, Pete had just said he’d fallen over. And as much as I love and trust my nephew, that was not the sound of someone falling over.” May noted offhandedly. 

“Well, let’s get him down here. He’s probably stressed and needs someone to talk to.” Harry concluded. The group made their way up the stairs and to Peter’s door. May knocked and got no reply.

“Peter honey? I’ve invited your friends over, we need to talk.” May faltered, not sure of how Peter would react. She waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t.

“Peter?” Harry called. No reply. He attempted to open the door, but it was locked.

“What if he really did fall? Maybe he tried getting up and hit his head?” May trembled.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I kick in the door?” Harry asked. May thought about it and then nodded. “Alright, move back.” 

Harry kicked the door in. He stopped, horrified by the sight. The entire room was destroyed. It looked like animals had been fighting in there. “Peter? PETER?!”

Harry stepped in looking afraid, before immediately searching the room. The others began calling for Peter, realizing that something had happened.

Papers were thrown everywhere and photos were knocked down and their picture frames destroyed. Peter’s mattress was turned over with his blankets and pillows torn to shreds. His desk was smashed in two and his closest door was caved in like something was thrown against it.

Miles immediately went to the mattress and lifted it, glad to not find Peter trapped underneath it. It became obvious that Peter wasn’t in the room. Harry, after making the connection that Peter wasn’t there, immediately went to the papers scattered on the floor. Harry sifted through the papers, before finding one that had “help me” scribbled on it. He searched through them meticulously, before finding several papers with notes and research on them. He stared, before skimming through them, reading about some entity called Carnage. He picked up the papers and looked around the room. 

“What happened here?!” Anya shouted horrified, seeing the chaos and disarray. 

“Did he get kidnapped or something?” Gwen asked, looking startled.

“No,” Harry replied firmly. “Peter’s smarter than that, he wouldn’t let himself get kidnapped without someone knowing what happened. Plus, look at this.” He said, handing Gwen the notes, before moving to the laptop quickly. 

He opened it and like always it taking forever to boot up. It felt even slower like it knew that something was wrong and really wanted to draw out their worries. When the screen finally lit up he clicked the password and typed it in, only to be denied. He had spelled it right, he knew that for sure. Peter must have changed it.

“Miles, we gotta get this to Ock. He’ll be able to get into this.” Harry said as he picked up the laptop.

Immediately Gwen and Anya. “Ock? As in Doctor Octopus?!” Anya shouted. “Uh, hello! He’s a villain!”

Harry and Miles turned to them. “There’s a lot that you aren’t caught up with. It’s a really long story, but you’re gonna have to trust us on one thing. Otto Octavius is a good guy.” Miles sighed.

“Miles, you shouldn’t trust him!” Gwen snapped, turning to her friend.

“Gwen, Anya, there’s something you need to know. It’s not gonna make sense right now, but I’m pretty sure this is gonna end up being revealed to you at some point soon anyway.” Harry suddenly spoke up.

The girls looked over at him. “Harry, what are you talking about?” May asked, standing back and looking worried and confused.

Harry felt a pang of guilt, knowing Peter’s probably going to be furious if he finds out that Harry spilled his secrets, but he didn’t have much of a choice. “Peter is Spider-Man. Ock is a good guy, and I think Peter is in danger. Please, you just have to have faith in me.” He begged.

“No, he- Peter can’t be- he’s too, well, Peter!” Anya gaped. Gwen’s eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly open, she was still processing what had been said. Harry turned to May, expecting her to be in denial or even more worried, but she wasn’t either of those. She just nodded.

“It would make sense.” She sighed, “He could only get so many injuries before I got suspicious.”

Harry gave her a guilty smile. “Look, you can process that all later. Right now, just accept it, and we gotta find out what happened.” He said. He picked up all the papers that were scattered in the vicinity and stepped out. “We’ll find Peter, May,” Harry promised, turning to the still worried woman.

She nodded. “Please make sure my nephew comes back alive.” 

Harry hesitated, before nodding. “I’ll try.”

~~~

“WHAT?!” Ock yelled, now turning to see the group of teens behind him. Harry had just told him that Peter was missing and how they found his room a mess. The first person that believed that he could change, gone! Now he’s in a room with people who he knew didn’t trust him the same way Peter did.

“He took notes of something called Carnage. I don’t know if it’s a metaphor or a person, but I need you to unlock Peter’s laptop. There might be more information on it.” Harry said, now handing Ock the laptop.

“I’ll do my best. Peter’s programs are a little confusing I will admit. He adds twist and turns and dead ends that look real just to make sure his information keeps secret.” Ock replied now turning back to his desk. He opened the laptop and saw it slowly start up again. “Even more confusing is how he managed to do all of it on this outdated piece of junk.” 

Harry crossed his arms. ”I know. I’ve been trying to replace that thing for months now. He just won’t let me.” He sighed.

Otto shifted. He trusted Miles to an extent, but he was more than a little uncomfortable. “While I’m doing this, you can either leave or look through those notes Peter took.” He began when his monitor made a buzzing noise. “Or you can take care of this.” He said, bringing up a video feed from one of the Spider-Bots.

There was a thin, red figure, in a construction site. Otto froze at the sight. It looked like a much thinner, and red, version of Venom. And it was obviously not happy. 

“How long has it been doing this?” Miles asked. They were entranced by its movements, especially Harry who thought it looked familiar.

“About an hour. I was trying to contact Peter but he didn’t answer and now that I know that he missing I can roll out that he already knew about it.” Ock answered.

“Has it only been doing property damage?” Gwen asked.

“No, before the construction site he hurt a few civilians. No fatal injuries, but they’ll be bedbound for months.” Ock replied, pulling up videos of the symbiote throwing some people out of its way. “Something I picked up on is that it was hesitant about hurting the first victims.”

"We'll head over there now," Harry replied firmly. 

The others looked at him, before nodding. As they exited the Spiders Nest, Gwen and Anya gave Otto one more hesitant look that he didn't miss. 

~~~

They arrived at the construction site in a matter of minutes, to see the creature holding a man by his throat. The creature was laughing loudly as the man struggled to escape his grip. "HEY!" Harry shouted loudly. 

The creature turned to them before its cheeks turned up into some kind of smile. He dropped the man and turned to the on-edge vigilantes.

“Well, I didn’t know it was a pajama party! And you came here to face me with thin fabric? I mean honestly, the only smart one here is the tin goblin!” He chuckled at them.

“Who are you?” Ghost Spider demanded.

“Who am I?” He hissed, approaching the group.

They all collectively took an alarmed step backward. “I am Carnage.” He hissed, before immediately launching in an attack.

They leaped out in different directions of Carnage’s initial strike. Harry’s heart pounded against his ribcage. Carnage? The same Carnage Peter took notes on? This can’t be a coincidence- Before Harry could continue his thoughts, he was attacked again by the lean red figure.

Miles shot a web at Carnage before he could tackle Harry. He was able to pull Carnage a few inches before being spun with his own web. Anya took that as the chance to jump on his back. She grabbed the sides of his head and began to pull.

“With how smug you are, I’m surprised that you haven’t shown us your host. How about I help you?” She smirked, pulling at the symbiote.

“No thanks, that’ll ruin the plan.” Carnage then threw Anya at Gwen, knocking them down. “Now that I think about it, you all could ruin the plan.”

Carnage the sent a sharp tendril at the girls. It was approaching faster towards them, too fast for them to move. They closed their eyes and waited for the sharp pain but it never came. When they opened their eyes saw the tendril right in front of them. Behind the tendril, they saw Carnage and he looked like he was fighting himself mentally. They stared in alarm, as Carnage screamed. A moment passed, and Carnage’s form began to distort, and his chest opened up to reveal Peter. He was crying as he seized. “LET GO OF ME!”

Peter thrashed and screamed for his brief moment of being revealed before Carnage retook control and screamed furiously. Carnage snarled at them, before turning and fleeing. They stayed still for a moment, recovering from the shock of what the fuck just happened. “We are in deep fucking shit…” Miles whispered.

~~~

“-and it was Peter. Carnage just took control of Peter! We can’t fight him!” Harry shouted.

Otto had a horrified look on his face. Harry, unfortunately, was right. They couldn’t fight Carnage how they normally would without potentially hurting Peter. Ever since the group had left, Otto had been looking through Peters’ notes and attempting to decrypt his password, which was proving to be much more troublesome than he anticipated. Peter had been taking lots of notes on Carnage and had written down a few links that he couldn’t gain access to because Carnage refused to let him. Some of them were incredibly long. Peter was being very diligent in his note-taking, which Otto was thankful for.

“Symbiotes and hosts have to have a connection, right? Peter would have to agree with him, right?” Anya asked while pacing.

“Not exactly,” Ock said, now finishing up writing the URL. “I study symbiotes and all they really need is a host. The host doesn’t need to agree with it, but its attacks would be much smoother if the host did. Constant fighting between the two can wear them both out and all the symbiote needs to do is leave and the host will be injured or….dead.” He had hesitated on the last part. He didn’t want to think about losing his friend already.

The mood of the room dramatically shifted when he finished speaking. There was a new tension to the air and far more fear than before. The page loaded up. He looked at the website and skimmed through Peter’s notes again. “Right now we must keep our heads and work together.” Otto finally spoke. “Harry, you and Gwen go visit Cletus Kasady. He was the man who gave Peter that… liquid, which now I can only assume was the Carnage symbiote.” Harry made a face at the realization that Peter had literally consumed the symbiote. “Miles and Anya, you two can either go out on patrol or help me read through these notes and websites,” Otto replied as he began reading the website. 

Harry nodded. “Come on, Gwen.” He said as he began to exit the Spiders Nest. Gwen nodded and followed behind him.

~~~

“Kasady killed his grandmother by pushing her down the stairs when he was young then tortured his mother’s dog. His father killed his mother and he became an orphan. Held in an insane asylum until 18 until they had to let him go. Started a killing spree at 20 and hasn’t been caught until Spider-Man did.” Ock reported to Harry through his com.

“Thanks, Ock,” Harry said as him and Gwen landed in front of the prison. Two guards saw them approach. 

They looked at each other, seeming surprised. Harry approached first. “We gotta talk to a man Spider-Man brought in a week or so ago. His name’s Cletus Kasady?” 

The guards exchanged another shocked look until the taller of the two shrugged. “What’re we gonna do, tell them no?” He snorted, before motioning them to follow.

They followed quickly, as the taller, black-haired guard led them into the building. He spoke to one of the secretaries for a moment, before leading them further in. “Look, most of the guys here don’t really like the fact that you’re taking our jobs, but the thing is, we kind of rely on you. If you guys weren’t here, I can say we’d be thoroughly fucked.” He said, opening the door to let them in. “In short, thank you.”

Harry smiled under his helmet. “It’s no problem. We’re just trying to help out.” He replied. They walked down and a few of the inmates started screaming and yelling swears or things at Gwen that would make anyone shiver.

“Don’t mind them, the cells won’t break and even if they do get out they’ll learn to stop.” A guard said, leading them down the hall toward a more empty area. The cell doors’ window became smaller and the doors had turned into a different material.

“He broke out of his cell twice in one day so we had to move him. Not to also mention how he tried to strangle one of the other inmates.” The guard stopped and knocked on the door. “Kasady, sit in the chair, you have visitors.” 

There was a flashing button that appeared after a few seconds and the guard pressed it.

“He’s now stuck to the chair. If he gets out at all, there's a panic button under the table. I would normally take away your weapons, but Kasady is a special breed.” The guard said as he unlocked the door.

Harry nodded quietly, before sitting down across from Kasady with Gwen. Kasady smiled a manic smile, before laughing. "So, I'm guessing that little Spider's gotten some results from that special little brew I cooked up?" He sneered. 

"Tell us everything you know about Carnage," Harry spoke firmly. 

"Stop trying to stop Carnage. He can never be stopped you, idiots." He spat through his laughter. "You won’t get anywhere!"

"Why did you give Carnage up," Gwen asked, getting more and more irritated as the seconds passed. 

Kasady simply smiled. “It’ll ruin the surprise!”

Harry slammed his hands on the table. “What is the surprise?! First Carnage then you! What the hell do you have planned for my Spider-Man?!” 

“Your Spider-Man? Is there something special going on between you two?” Kasady smirked as Harry didn’t reply. “Oh, so our little plan really will do more damage than we first thought!”

“Your plan won’t happen. Now tell us how to save him.” Gwen hissed.

“Save him? Save him?!” He laughed with a hint of insanity, “Even if you get Carnage away from him, who said he’s been saved. If I'm honest, after meeting Carnage I would say that I felt my violent tendencies increase.”

Harry immediately lost what control he had retained, and launched at the man. Gwen grabbed him, holding him back from strangling him. “Hobgoblin! As much as I hate this man, we can’t kill him!” She shouted, pulling Harry back.

“You heard what he said about Spidey!” He shouted furiously.

“Killing him won’t solve any of our problems!” She snapped.

She stopped when Kasady began laughing maniacally. “You lot should just give up on that Spider-Man! If Carnage has control over him, there isn’t anything you can do anymore!” He laughed.

Gwen stopped, almost wanting to release Harry, and let him maul this man. “Even if you do somehow manage to get Carnage to let him go, who’s to say he won’t end up like me?!” He sneered.

“He’s too good to end up like _you_ ,” Harry yelled and really pulled against Gwen’s arm.

“Torture and time, Gobby, torture and time!” Kasady sang with a hideous smile.

“You little-“ Harry began before Gwen tugged him back.

“He’s not worth it, Hobgoblin. We should go.” Gwen said, knocking on the door to alert the guard.

Before they left, Kasady said something that stuck in his mind and gave him more determination to prove him wrong. “This will end with me winning, you know?”

~~~

The two exited the building, looking furious. Harry turned to Gwen with a determined look. “We need to find him. Now.”

Gwen nodded in agreement, and the two left to the Spiders Nest.

~~~ 

The group sat together, looking uncomfortable as Otto stood in front of them. “Okay, so there was a lot as to the information on Peter’s computer and the notes he took. First of all, Carnage was created from a sample of Venom that was infused with radiation and a cocktail of other chemicals, thus he’s more violent and more unstable. Which, unfortunately, this does not mean he is easier to beat. If anything, this makes it more difficult. He has the same weaknesses as Venom, sound waves and heat, but it takes far more sound waves and much more heat to affect him the way it affects Venom, so if we do use those methods we must be very careful because Peter still is his host, and we could still injure him. And we do not want to do that.” Otto explained.

“So we really can’t do anything to help without hurting Peter?” Harry mumbled, looking at the floor. He definitely didn’t like the thought at all.

“It seems so,” Ock replied. “It would be better to have him slightly injured then stuck being a puppet to Carnage.” 

“He’s right.” Miles said as he stood, “Peter would understand that we had to do it.” His friends hesitated but nodded.

“BUT! We must be incredibly careful. We don’t want to burn him to death or make him deaf. I can promise you, he would not be happy with that.” Otto clarified.

The group nodded in agreement. “I have a plan. It isn’t foolproof, and it is far from the best, but it’s a plan nonetheless. We need to get a container that would hold Venom, and I need a sample of Venom.” 

Gwen and Anya motioned uncomfortably. “Now the container I understand. But why the sample?” Anya questioned.

Otto scoffed. “Simple, I need to make a device to track Carnage. We can’t get a sample of Carnage, so we must use the next best thing. A sample of Venom.”

“Okay, we’ll work on getting you a sample,” Miles said and motioned towards Harry. 

“Actually, I was hoping to go check up on May. We haven’t updated her on the situation and I’m pretty sure she’s expecting one.” Harry noted. 

Otto nodded. "Let her down slowly, Harry. You know she must be worried." Miles warned. 

Harry nodded silently, before turning and leaving the Spiders Nest. 

~~~

Harry hesitated before knocking on the door. He knew once the door was open he’d be hit with a wave of guilt and sorrow, but it had to be done so he knocked. 

It was a few minutes until May opened the door. She looked just how she usually did except for her eyes that were red from tears. Still, her warm smile gave the same effect that it had always given.

“Come on in dear.” She cooed, stepping aside to let him in.

Harry stepped in. “Hey, May. I’ve got good news and bad news… The good news is, we found Peter and I think he’s okay. Bad news, he’s under the control of the symbiote, Carnage.” 

May’s face fell, as a pained look flashed in her eyes. “Come, sit down. Tell me what happened.” She murmured, sitting down on the couch.

Harry sat down, fighting back tears, and gave her the full story. She listened quietly, obviously hurting. “I just wanted to come and tell you what happened. Also, I was hoping I could clean Peter’s room up a bit. That is if you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead. Let me know if you need help.” May sighed, patting him on the back. 

Harry nodded and gave her a soft smile before heading up to Peter’s room. It was still the same mess that it was when he left. He looked around for a moment, wondering where to start in all this chaos. He swallowed thickly, before grabbing the pillows off the floor and putting them back on Peter’s bed. As he continued to clean, he ordered replacements for all of Peter’s belongings. He turned and smiled softly at the sight of Scat’s cage in one piece. Scat was Peter’s brown tarantula, and when Harry had interrogated Peter as to why he had a tarantula, he had just replied with, “Harry, she called me her dad. She’s my child now.” Even when out of control, Peter refuses to hurt Scat. Harry smiled, barely holding back tears, as he approached the cage and reached in, pulling out the docile tarantula. She balanced on his hand happily and turned around. After a moment, Harry patted her lightly and returned her to the cage. He fed her and sprayed the tank with water, then turned around, continuing to clean Peter’s destroyed room.

Harry went to pick up a book when something pricked his finger. He looked at the ground near the book and saw that there was glass around. He picked up the book by the spin and found Peter’s phone. Using the screen would cause multiple cuts so Harry took a pencil and pressed the home button. The home screen flashed, the right bottom corner didn’t work. Peter’s home screen picture was completely distorted. “I can fix it with duct tape!” Peter’s voice echoed in Harry’s head.

“Can’t fix this with duct tape.” He murmured. 

He put a new phone on the order list. Knowing Peter wouldn’t accept anything too expensive, he settled on a cheap model with good reviews. He put the busted phone in his back pocket so he could retrieve the SD card later. He went downstairs to get a broom when May had offered him tea. He thankfully accepted the offer and was quick to return upstairs to sweep up what he could of the shattered glass.

After sweeping up the glass, he moved on to the destroyed picture frames. Some of the pictures were crumbled or their frames were broken and on the ground. All except for one that sat on Peter’s bedside table. A picture of Uncle Ben and a ten-year-old Peter. Harry approached the undamaged frame, picking it up and smiling softly. Tears began streaming down his face, and he clutched the frame closely, as the pent up fear and sadness exploded in his chest in a flurry of pain. He heard the door open and looked up, alarmed. May stood in the door holding a cup of tea. She put it down on Peter's desk and wordlessly walked over and hugged Harry, crying as well. The two took a moment to stop and cry, both being equally distraught about Peter's loss. "We'll get him back, May." Harry whimpered, wiping his tears. "I'll do whatever it takes." He promised. 

May smiled softly for a moment, before frowning. She nodded silently, yet never replied, before leaving the room. Harry looked down at the photo once more, before taking a shuddery breath and putting the picture into his bag. There's gotta be some reason this picture went undamaged, right? He wiped his eyes once more, before cleaning Peter's room a bit more, and wondering silently if Peter ever had cleaned his room in the past. 

~~~

It took a good two hours before the room looked clean, besides the broken desk. Harry had put in an order for a new desk. May had said not to buy blankets or pillows online because she had extras that would last for now.

Ock has contacted everyone saying that everyone should get some rest. “We've been working on this for 2 days and 12 hours straight. We know Peter would have our heads if we put ourselves through this without some sleep.” He had said. 

Harry wanted to argue, but he knew that Otto was unfortunately correct. He forced himself to lay back but it had taken one of Peter’s melatonin pills for him to actually fall asleep.

~~~

“It appears that the creature that’s been causing chaos over the past few days has returned!” Harry stilled as the news began. “The creature that calls itself Carnage went on a rampage last night. 97 people injured while more than 20 people were left in critical condition. Police are advising to avoid any large meetings or get-togethers while Carnage is still loose.”

Harry’s phone began to ring as the news broadcast finished. He picked it up and declined the call, not looking at who it was. He was still focused on the TV. _The night we take a break he comes out._ “Harry, they said none of the attacks were fatal. People won’t be feeling nice, but Peter still has enough control to keep Carnage from killing people.” Miles said, reassuringly patting Harry’s shoulder. 

Harry turned to him. “The second we rested Carnage attacked. What’re we supposed to do?” He asked weakly.

“Keep trying. Otto called us back to the Spiders Nest, I think he had a breakthrough. We gotta head over there.”

Harry nodded and turned away from the display case full of TVs. They moved quickly to the unmarked building where the Spiders Nest dwelled. Gwen and Anya were already there when they entered and Otto was typing away on his computer. He looked away from the screen for a second to see who had entered.

“I was studying Venom when I saw I match between it and Carnage.” Otto began, “Turns out their pheromones are very similar. I was able to make a tracking unit that could follow the pheromones. We shouldn’t fully rely on it for pinpointing Carnage’s exact location, but we can get an area. But we must be quick. The longer he stays in one place the farther his pheromones will spread, thus it’ll be harder to track him.”

Knowing that the group began to formulate a plan. Gwen shifted, “I think I have an idea. My uncle, before he went all… you know, Jackal, he had some heavy-duty subwoofers. They were pretty small though, what if I go get those and play a high-frequency sound? One too high for Peter to hear. That way we can chase Carnage out of Peter with that.” 

The group nodded. “Good thinking, Gwen.” Anya complimented, grinning.

Harry nodded, as Miles spoke up. “While you get those the rest of us will track down Carnage so we can get him off Peter ASAP.” 

“While this is a good plan, you MUST NOT engage,” Otto warned, “if you do you could injure Peter or Carnage could hurt you. We must be careful about every move we make.” He added firmly.

Harry nodded. “Seems like the best plan we’ll get. And if it fails, then we can test if the tracker works.”

“Of course it works, I built it.” Otto interrupted confidently.

Harry rolled his eyes, as the rest of the vigilantes nodded. “Let's go save Peter.”

~~~

Hours flew by and it was only when the sunset when the track finally picked up on Carnage’s pheromones. He was near a very broken down part of New York. It was a good 20 minutes away from where Miles was.

“Just stay right there, Miles. Do not move until the rest of your friends arrive.” Ock order and then sent the others Miles’ location. “If he moves any closer, hide or run, and make sure he doesn’t see you. Do not engage.”

“Yeah yeah, Ock. I get it. Don’t engage. You’ve said it at least twenty times now.” Miles sighed.

“I’m at my uncles’ house and I’ve gotten the subwoofers. I’ll be there in a bit.” Gwen replied curtly.

Harry and Anya arrived shortly, waiting for Gwen. “Have you seen him at all?” Anya asked.

Miles shook his head. “No, not since I watched him go in that building.” He replied.

Harry stopped, and covered both of their mouths. Anya smacked his hand away. “What are you doing?” She snapped.

Harry shushed her before a loud crash sounded beneath them. They looked down to see Carnage standing beneath them, looking around angrily. They froze, staying very still when Carnage hissed, and looked up, meeting their gazes. He gave them a sadistic smile before disappearing out of their sights completely.

“Back to back.” Miles whispered and his friends complied. If Carnage was trying to sneak up on them, then they’d make it so he couldn’t. 

It was three sold minutes until Anya’s and Miles’ spider senses started wild. Harry could feel them tense and he started looking around with them, but couldn’t find Carnage.

“Well, isn’t this cute.” Their heads darted to the voice. It was Peter, or Carnage just showing them what they wanted to see. “ _Two little spiders and a goblin prince._ ”

They froze. Peter’s eyes were a dark red, and he had an unsettling smile. Harry touched his comm. “Otto- we could use backup, we got spotted.”

He heard Otto shout in panic, and Gwen yelled in alarm. “I’m not that close! I need you to buy time!” Gwen remarked, the wind could be heard hitting her comm.

“Try to get through to Peter! He still in there! If Carnage wants to fight, try cornering him!” Ock urged to the three.

Peter jumped down from the roof next to their’s and approached the group with confidence that he never showed before. “ _He begs to keep you guys out of this, you know._ ” Carnage hissed, now circling them, “ _I thought for a hero or something of the sorts that he’d be much stronger. He’s just a giant crybaby, though. I really thought he could handle organ squeezing._ ” He finished off smugly.

“Organ squeezing?” Miles faltered, not liking the two words together. He got a smirk from Pet- Carnage.

“ _Like this._ ” 

Peter doubled over and started gasping, but it didn’t sound like Carnage. Harry looked over and saw Peter hugging and scratching himself. It’s just Carnage trying to play with you. Peter’s not really in pain. He’s not in pain. He’s-

“PLEASE STOP!” Peter screamed, tears now cascading down his face. Suddenly a red slimy hand popped out of his back. 

“ _Come on Peter! They want to see your face! Let them see! I especially want them to see what happened when I pull on your heart!_ ” Carnage cackled as the hand grabbed Peter’s face and forced him to look up at his friends. The pain could be seen clearly in his green eyes.

Harry's heart pounded heavily as he began to rush with adrenaline. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" He screamed rushing at Carnage.

He drew his flaming sword but before he could strike the red tendril, it dissipated, and Peter flung his arms out. Harry’s stomach churned as he realized that Carnage was literally using him as a human shield. He took a step back. Peter's eyes turned back to red. He didn't stop crying, obviously still in pain, but Carnage began laughing. " _You all are so weak. Refusing to hurt each other, all I need to do is kill this host and get another, then I can kill you._ "

Harry stiffened, an angry look crossing his face. "Don't you dare." He spat. 

Carnage simply laughed, before Peter's eyes returned to their bright emerald green. He doubled over in pain and screamed, wheezing as he struggled to catch his breath. Harry immediately ran forward, wanting- no, _needing_ to help his boyfriend when a dark tendril appeared out of Peter's back and sent Harry flying. "HARRY!" Anya and Miles called in unison. 

Peter made a wheezing sound, as he attempted to call for his boyfriend. Miles ran beside Harry and crouched down beside him. "Harry, I don't think Carnage is going to kill Peter." He whispered softly. 

Harry gave him a distressed look. "What? He's killing him now- we've gotta-"

"Harry, Peter's been making Carnages’ goal difficult since Carnage first bonded with him. Wouldn't Carnage have just, I don't know, found a more compatible host? He's keeping Peter alive for something." Miles reasoned. 

Peter’s screams turned into gasps and silent sobs as he placed his forehead on the ground. Harry wanted nothing more than to run over and comfort his boyfriend but he was able to restrain himself after he heard him start laughing. It wasn't his normal full-hearted laugh that could light up a room right away. It was unsettling and cold, insane almost. The laughing subsided and Peter turned his head to his friends. His eyes were fading back to red. He reached out his hand to his friends before Carnage wrapped around him.

Carnage stood you in his full glory, Peter now hidden underneath him. “ _Was that a lovely chat?_ ” He smiled, showing off all of his pointy teeth.

Harry didn't reply but made an outraged face. "Harry, we just have to stall for some time- Gwen, what's your ETA?" Miles asked. 

"I just need a couple of minutes- I'm not far. Just stall for four or five more minutes." Gwen said as she gasped for breath over the comms.

Harry stood up, holding his bleeding side from when Carnage had struck him, and held eye contact with Carnage as his mask covered his face again. "Four or five minutes? We can do that." He replied. 

“I’ll rush over there,” Gwen answered. 

“ _Who are you talking to? Peter’s replacement?_ ” Carnage cackled then charged at them. Immediately they scattered away from the incoming murderer machine. _Don’t answer,_ Harry reminded himself, _he wants a reaction, don’t give it to him._

The fight was hard on both sides. Carnage seemed willing to strike at any opportunity, but Peter was holding him back significantly. Well, Carnage was still hitting, but he wasn’t breaking their bones like he wanted to. On the other side, the group was ready to fight, but their hits were reluctant and not as hard as they could be. They shared the same fear of actually hurting each other that it’s a wonder how they didn’t stop the fighting. 

Carnage stopped and hissed furiously. _**This host is really making it hard to fight a successful battle. I need to weaken him somehow, as irritating as that is.**_ He turned, snarling at each of the vigilantes, realizing he’d been surrounded. He looked at each and every one of them furiously. With no other options, Carnage attacked Harry, pinning him to the ground. Harry cried out in alarm, as all the other heroes screamed in a panic. Harry drew his flaming sword and thrust it into Carnage’s gut in a desperate attempt to preserve his life. An ear-splitting scream erupted from Carnage’s jaws, as he stumbled back. Carnages form wavered for a moment, before he screamed much louder, seeming angry. The group looked up in alarm, to see Gwen standing there, panting heavily, and holding two decent sized subwoofers. Carnage staggered, looking panicked. He turned and attempted to flee. “Oh no you don’t!” Miles shouted, blocking his way.

Carnage screeched and attacked Miles. Anya webbed Carnage, and reigned him back in, keeping him from hurting Miles. Gwen turned the subwoofers on and the screams from Carnage loudened. It began pulling away from Peter, who had a pained face. Carnage quickly removed itself and began crawling away at a quick speed. Even without a host, Harry could hear it chuckled. He almost ran after it so that it couldn’t bond with anyone else. That was until he turned around to see his boyfriend on the ground in a puddle of blood. The sudden realization hit him, he didn’t just stab Carnage, but also _Peter_. He immediately ran to Peter’s side and saw that he was still conscious. 

“Gwen, turn that off!” Miles ordered. He was already kneeling by Peter and was trying to find a way to put pressure on the kind without putting pressure on the burns.

Gwen quickly shut the speakers off ran to the group, shouting, “Peter!”

“We gotta get him to the Spiders Nest- quick!” Anya shouted.

Harry picked up Peter. “You guys fill Otto in, I can get there the fastest.” He replied quickly, as he hoisted Peter into his arms bridal style. 

The others nodded, and Miles began filling in Otto. Harry took off on his glider quickly, his heart pounding against his ribcage. He held Peter close. “Hang on Pete, we’re gonna get you some help. Just hang in there.” He whimpered, moving as quickly as he could to the Nest.

After a few short minutes, Harry arrived at the nest, being greeted by a frantic Otto Octavius. “Put him down on the table.” He said quickly.

Otto had already pulled out a first aid kit and some disinfectants. “You should’ve left the sword in you dolt! You would’ve cauterized the wound.” He scolded, as he handed Harry a rag. “Put pressure on the wound.” He muttered.

“I couldn’t! Carnage jumped off the sword.” He snapped back. 

After about a minute, the Spiders arrived, seeing Peter bleeding on the table. Harry was barely keeping his composure as he held pressure on the wound, and Otto was looking at the first aid kit frantically, trying to find anything that could help. Gwen stepped in, knowing more about sealing wounds than Otto. “Just trust me Ock. We gotta work together on this.”

After a moment of hesitation, Otto stood back and let Gwen take the reigns. She took out some gauzes and disinfectant. She knew how to treat small cuts, but a full-on stab wound? She put the disinfectant on gauze and started wiping the cut while putting pressure on the side. Peter’s hand twitched and clenched and Harry took it so that he wouldn’t scratch his palms. He ended up getting the shit squeezed out off his hand but he kept silent.

“Gwen, I think that you’d agree that we need actual medical assistants,” Ock said. The group looked at him. They knew Peter didn’t like going to a hospital for anything that happened to him. His fear of being found out as Spider-Man always got the best of him. But now, they didn't have much of a choice. 

After a few moments of hesitation, they decided to go. They rushed Peter to the nearest hospital. Harry ran in, holding the injured boy. The receptionist looked up, and gasped in horror, before calling the doctors from the hallway. “What happened?!” She asked in a panic.

Harry froze. He hadn’t thought far enough ahead to come up with an excuse as to why his boyfriend was bleeding out… Before he could improvise, Otto stepped in gasping after him, and said, “We were doing an experiment and it had gone wrong.” He lied quickly.

The doctors nodded, and immediately wheeled him down to a surgery room. The receptionist took Peter’s data, as Otto fabricated a believable story.

The others watched as Peter was being wheeled off. The doctor that was barking orders stopped for a second as he got on top of Peter and started chest compressions while continuing his orders. Harry’s face conveyed his slight confusion and fear and Gwen spoke up. “They’re trying to keep his heart and lungs going until the get him into surgery.”

Everyone in the group shot their heads towards her. “Are you saying that he just stopped breathing?” Anya fumbled.

“It’s the only reason they’d start. If Peter was still conscious then they wouldn’t have. They would be talking him through this.” Gwen said.

Harry turned to the doors and practically whimpered. With no other option than to wait, the group took seats and waited worriedly. After about ten minutes of Harry pacing worriedly, he began to start shaking and crying. Otto looked up to Harry and knew that he was probably feeling guilty. “Don’t worry, Osborn. He’s in capable hands. His spider-powers will keep him going, I promise.” Otto replied.

They all knew Peter was strong and there was no way he’d be going down without a fight. Harry visibly tensed before turning to Otto with an angry look. “This is still my fault!” He shouted angrily. “If Peter dies, then it’d be because of me!”

Miles stood up and went face-to-face with Harry. “Harry- this isn’t your fault. Please, quiet down, there are other people here.” Miles said quickly.

Harry looked around, to see other people staring at him, some looking irritated and others looking sympathetic. Harry looked down before shaking his head. “Miles, what if I lose him?” He choked out.

Miles grabbed his shoulders. “We aren’t gonna lose him, Harry. Peter’s strong, he’ll pull through this. Just like he always does.” He reassured. Harry stayed quiet and Miles did the only thing he could think of and hugged him. “He has to.”

The truth was Miles didn’t want to think about losing Peter. He was one of his best friends and his mentor. If he lost him, he didn’t know what would happen after that. Harry would have lost everyone he’s ever loved if Peter died. He could see Harry becoming like his father. Not turning bad but shutting himself away behind paperwork. And God knew how Otto would react. Miles knew that Peter was one of the things keeping Otto going on a better path, whether Otto realized that or not.

He shook the thought out of his head. After a moment, Harry finally sat down and pulled out his phone, sniffing. He opened up his gallery and scrolled through the pictures, smiling softly. After a minute or two, he laughed and turned his phone around, showing the group a picture of Peter. Miles yelped in alarm, as Peter was laying on his back, appearing to be asleep, and there was a large brown tarantula on his chest. “What the hell is that?!” Miles shouted softly.

Harry laughed. “That’s Peter and his pet tarantula, Scat. He got super attached to her when he first met her. Wanna know where he got her?” 

The other vigilantes turned to him curiously. “Where?” Anya asked.

Harry chuckled again. “He found her in central park and decided that he needed to protect her.”

They all laughed. “That seems like such a Peter thing to do.” Gwen giggled.

Harry began finding other pictures and showing them to his friends. The stories behind them were funny or cute or just Peter being Peter. This continued until May appeared.

“How is he?” May sniffled, which got the group to look at her. She had tear-stained cheeks and her eyes were puffy. Her hair was a mess and it was obvious that she was going to bed or already in bed when she got the news. 

Harry sighed before shrugging. “They haven’t told us.” 

She made a pained noise, before turning to the others who were just as stressed out. Otto stepped in front of May. “Hello, Ms. Parker…” He said awkwardly.

He coughed into his fist, before explaining the cover story for Peter’s injuries. May nodded, complying easily. She turned to Harry, who offered her a small, sad smile. After a few minutes of silence, Harry continued telling stories about Peter, with the addition of May jumping in every now and then. After a few hours, a doctor stepped out. The group perked up hopefully, as did all the other patients in the waiting room. “Family of Peter Parker?” 

Immediately the group stood up and ran over. The doctor took a startled step backward. “Well, there sure are a lot of you!” He said, a jovial tone in his voice.

“Is my nephew okay?” May asked worriedly.

The doctor smiled kindly. “Let's do introductions first. My name is Dr. Robert Evans, I operated on him. And I have good news! Peter will be just fine. He very well during surgery, but he has an incredibly fast metabolism, is that normal?” He questioned.

May hesitated for a moment, but Harry spoke up. “Yeah, he eats a lot.” He replied, a small smile crossing his face.

Dr. Evans smiled. “Alright, that’s good. Well, as I said, Peter will be just fine. With a fast metabolism comes fast cellular regeneration, so he’ll heal quickly. But he’ll still need a lot of bed rest. At least until the wound can hold itself together. He has 23 stitches and the pain meds are wearing off, but you can go visit him, try to keep it at one or two guests at a time.” He informed them happily.

“Can you show us to his room?” May asked, a smile of relief now appearing on her face. Dr. Evans smiled and motioned for them to follow him. The group followed him down the recovery hallway. He walked up to room 503 and put his hand on the doorknob.

“Now remember, if he’s awake, he’ll be loopy on medication. Don’t try to get serious information out of him. If he’s asleep, then let him. I also know that since he’s a teenager that he’ll want to get out of bed, so I’ll offer you a wheelchair for the time being. After two weeks he should be able to walk, but keep a cane or just stay close to him so that he doesn’t fall.” Dr. Evans warned before opening the door. 

May glanced to Harry. “Would you like to go see him with me?”

He nodded quietly as the others found nearby benches. “We’ll wait here,”

Harry swallowed thickly before entering the hospital room with May. Peter was laying back on the bed. His eyes were closed and he was pale. It was a gut-wrenching sight, seeing Peter like this, so weak and fragile. They wanted to help him by any means necessary but… now all they could do was wait. He was snoring softly, a sound that Harry was used to, but hearing it now brought immense relief. 

He pulled up a chair beside Peter’s head, and sat down, running his fingers through Peter’s still surprisingly soft hair. He smiled and began undoing any tangles that had formed in Peter’s hair. As he did this, he let out a sad sigh as the realization hit him. This battle isn’t over yet. Harry looked up at May for a moment before pressing a gentle kiss to Peter’s head. “I’ll let you have a minute alone with him,” 

She nodded thankfully as Harry left the room. As he entered the hallway, he looked at everyone’s expressions. They had the same relieved and determined look on their face and Harry knew, Peter wouldn’t so much as leave their sights for a second until Carnage was captured and contained in a place where he’ll never be able to get to Peter.

~~~

Over the next week, Peter was released from the hospital. He was almost always tired and May had taken days off from work to make sure he didn’t try any funny business. Harry had been at his house the rest of the time to watch Peter when May was working or sleeping. Harry knew that Peter wasn’t going to try to go on patrol though, based on what he’d been saying. 

After Peter regained full consciousness and he and Harry had a moment alone, Peter broke down, telling Harry everything that had happened, every awful thing that Carnage had done in Peters’ body, all the pain Carnage had put him through. After Peter had finally relaxed enough, he had admitted that he was scared shitless of Carnage and that he really didn’t want to face him again any time soon. Harry spent every night giving Peter reassuring snuggles and making tea when Peter woke up from a nightmare. He stayed at home for the first week, before wanting to hang out at the Spiders Nest, just to try to help in finding Carnage. “The sooner he’s off the streets, the sooner I can go on patrol.” Peter reasoned.

Harry shifted. He still didn’t want Peter to go outside. What if Carnage attacked them? “Harry, please! The Spiders Nest is probably the safest place I can be, what with all the Spider-Bots there to protect Otto and me.” 

Harry huffed. “Fine, but only because you have ADHD and I know that you’re slowly dying every second you stay here.”

Peter cheered happily, grabbing his bookbag where he’d put his laptop and where he’d written even more notes. Peter was about to stand when Harry stopped him.

“No, you still have a week in the wheelchair,” Harry said, picking him up because his wheelchair was downstairs.

“Harry! I’m fine, I can walk!” Peter groaned.

“Everyone will have my head if I let you walk around New York. May might know, but she still wants you using it.” Harry laughed as he walked out. The door was almost always open now. It was only closed when someone else was in the room with Peter.

Peter crossed his arms as Harry put him down in the wheelchair. “I feel like a toddler.”

“You are a toddler.” Harry kisses Peter’s forehead and received a light smack on the chest.

When they got to the Spiders Nest everyone was happy to see him but concerned that he was out and about. Peter had to convince them all that he really was okay, physically that is. After ten minutes of arguing, Otto shut them up and said, "Peter, I'm alright with you coming here on one condition."

Peter perked up hopefully, having jumped out of his wheelchair to argue, while Harry stood beside him ready to catch Peter if he stumbled. "If you come here you are not to stop anywhere else and you must have someone accompany you on the way here."

"Deal!" Peter shouted happily. 

They all understood why Otto wanted Peter to have an entourage. If Carnage were to try and attack him again, they'd be able to defend him.

“Now that that has been settled, Harry and Miles, I want you to patrol where Carnage was last seen. Gwen and Anya, I need you to go and get some supplies for a container for Carnage, then once you’re back I’ll help to put it together and test it.” Ock said, now taking out files on recent crimes. “As for you Peter, I want you to help me go through all of these.”

Peter nodded. To say that he was excited was an understatement. He was so glad that he was finally doing something that he didn’t complain that the paragraphs were long or that some of the crimes were stupid. As they searched through the files, Otto noticed how fidgety Peter was. He stopped for a moment and thought. When he was in Peter’s body, he had learned of Peter’s ADHD and experienced how fidgety he was. But looking at Peter, he realized that he must be having it worse right then. After all, Otto did only inherit a small portion of the effects. He watched as Peter bounced his leg and read through each paper, setting some to the left and others to his right. After about 20 minutes, Harry stepped through the doors again. “Osborn? What are you doing here?” Otto asked quizzically.

Harry looked over at him, before saying, “I just came to bring a few things to Pete.” He said, putting down a bag he had brought with him.

The bag had multiple fidget cubes, as Peter tends to break them when he gets too deep in thought or too stressed. It also had some snacks, protein shakes, and a few water bottles. “Just wanted to make sure you guys were doing okay.” He said, tossing Peter a granola bar and a fidget cube.

Peter caught both, his eyes lighting up happily. “Thank you, Harry!” He squealed happily, running over and kissing his cheek.

Harry smiled and kissed Peter’s temple, before shooing him off. “Go sit down,” He scolded lightly.

Peter giggled, but sat down, taking the bag with him and chewing happily on the granola bar. Otto stood up and walked over to Harry.

“So, how bad can Peter’s ADHD get? Not that it would be a problem just so I know how to handle it.” Otto whispered not wanting Peter to hear.

“Honestly, it’s not that bad once you get used to it. I guess that you probably will.” Harry said. “Think of having a million thoughts at once. Peter has medication for it so he can aim his thoughts onto one thing. On his medication, he will grab whatever interest him but he’ll ask and he’ll ramble when he can. Off of it he’ll just grab things and apologize later for grabbing it. His ramblings can go on for hours if he’s passionate or stressed. Peter could also zone out when you’re talking to him.”

“Okay, how do I deal with it?” Otto asked, glancing at Peter who was throwing the fidget cube up and catching it.

“Just ground him in reality in a calm manner. He might not even know he’s doing it. If he really zones out then wave your hand or snap so that he focuses on it and then he’ll focus on what you’re saying. Also, don’t yell at him for fidgeting. If the knee bouncing is becoming too much, hand him the fidget cube. If that becomes too much, hand him a piece of paper to draw on.” Harry stared while preparing to leave again. “Oh, and he will fidget with anything. Hair, hands, and clothes. Anything he can grab. And he will surprise hug you. Just remind him of boundaries nicely.”

Otto nodded, thanking Harry softly, before returning to his station. “And don’t get too frustrated with him,” Harry called, turning to Peter. “He’ll get random bursts of energy sometimes.” He added.

Peter stuck his tongue out at Harry, before grinning and turning back to reading the papers and fidgeting happily. Peter looked through the papers happily for the next 30 or so minutes, before freezing. “Otto, Otto come look at this,” Peter said.

Otto turned to stand, but Peter was already approaching him. He made a face at Peter's contradiction, before looking at the paper Peter had handed him. He skimmed through it, before freezing up. Cletus Kasady had escaped jail.

“Please tell that I read that wrong.” Peter’s voice was weak and Otto turned to face him. He looked so desperate. “P-Please tell that I’m wrong.” 

“Peter-“ Otto put his hand on Peter’s shoulder only for Peter to back away.

“H-he can’t be out! He just can’t be!” Peter began hyperventilating and his legs felt like they were going to give. Otto picked up on this and was at his side immediately.

“Peter, everything will be fine. He doesn’t-“ Otto began.

“He does! Carnage was able to break through walls, Kasady wouldn’t be able to! Oh god, he knows who I am! He knows who everyone is! He knows where I live!” Peter screamed, his legs finally giving out. Ock was able to catch him before he hit the ground. He guided Peter back to his wheelchair. He had no idea how to calm someone down, especially with news like this.

“Uh, Peter. Peter, just stay calm. Breathe, we need you to stay calm.” Ock said, rubbing Peter’s shoulder awkwardly.

In a panic, he texted Harry, alerting him to Peter’s panic. Harry had arrived in minutes, seeing Otto rubbing Peter’s back gently while Peter was hyperventilating in a panic. Harry ran over to his boyfriend and kneeled down in front of him. “Hey bug, I’m here, Pete, look at me.”

Peter was trembling violently, but he looked up at Harry. Harry provided him a calm smile and moved closer to him. “Hey, there beautiful.” He said gently, before pressing his palm onto Peter’s cheek and grabbing his hand. 

He rubbed his cheek lightly as Peter squeezed his hand. Finally, his breath began to slow. Otto watched in amazement as Harry was able to calm Peter down quickly, simply by being around him. After a long few minutes, Peter had calmed down enough. Harry had picked him up off the wheelchair and was sitting on the ground with him. Peter leaned into Harry’s side, being engulfed by the scent of Harry’s cologne. 

“What’s wrong, bug?” Harry soothed. Peter pushed further into Harry’s side. Otto cleared his throat and Harry looked up. He was holding a piece of paper that had some crimes on it. He lowered the paper so Harry could read it.

His grip on his boyfriend tightened slightly as he read Cletus Kasady. _There is no way in hell that he’s going to get his hands on Peter again._ Peter flinched as his grip tightened. Harry stopped and sighed, before nuzzling him gently. “I’m not gonna let him touch you, I promise bug…” He murmured gently, before kissing his face softly.

Peter sighed contentedly, before wrapping his arms lightly around Harry. “Thank you…” He mumbled quietly, as he buried his face into the crook of Harry’s neck.

Harry smiled, before giving Otto an embarrassed look. “I’m just gonna stick around here… for a bit… if you don’t mind.” 

Otto nodded. “Don’t try any funny business in my lab.” He warned.

“Otto, if we were going to have sex, we wouldn’t do it in a place where either of us could get hurt,” Harry said flatly, trying to lighten the mood.

Peter elbowed him, his face flushing, as Harry began to laugh. Otto’s face displayed utter horror.

“I didn’t mean like that! I meant messing with my machines!” Ock faltered. “Plus, Peter’s wound isn’t fully healed! Peter could literally rip open!” He had done some research. Yes, Peter healed fast, but bigger wounds took at least 9 days to heal completely.

“Can we not talk about this over the comms?” Miles's voice echoed from Ock’s computer and Harry’s earpiece. “I don’t need to hear an old teacher say my friend could be ripped open.”

Peter, upon realizing that everyone else could hear, screamed, both horrified and embarrassed. Harry laughed and wrapped his arms around Peter, preventing the shorter boy from jumping up and presumably leaving the Nest. When Peter was unable to escape Harrys’ arms, he resulted in curling into a ball and hiding his face. Harry laughed, before saying, “Pretend none of you heard that.” Into the comms.

Anya made a noise before saying, “Believe me. After that last date you pulled, we all know you two are into some kinky shit.” 

Peter screamed again in his hands, as the rest of the group laughed, minus Otto, who remained confused.

“You know what? I don’t want to know. I think I already know.” Otto said the last part quietly. Peter peaked out at Otto and received a look of knowing. 

“I’m going to rip myself open if we don’t get back on track,” Peter wailed.

Harry chuckled, before telling the others what had happened. The room grew incredibly tense, and Peter nuzzled into Harry’s side, closing his eyes. They all agreed after a few moments, that they should probably keep Peter under constant watch, which Harry happily offered to do. “Peter, just a question, Carnage kept talking about some plan that he had. Do you know anything about that?” Gwen questioned.

Peter sighed, before shaking his head. “No, not really. While my thoughts were public for him to see, I didn’t know what Carnage was thinking.”

”Do you remember anything?” Anya asked cautiously. Peter's grip on Harry tightened as he remembered.

“It was really cold. Whenever I was in control I was just a prisoner. He had me build things, I’m not sure what.” Peter mumbled into Harry’s side. “All he’d let me eat was pigeons.”

Harry made a face before whispering, “Goliath Birdeater…”

Despite how unhappy Peter was, he managed a smile and chuckled lightly at that. He took a deep breath, before finally speaking. “Look, guys, it took everything in me to make sure that Carnage didn’t kill you guys. And I mean that I barely could stop him from killing you, let alone strangers that Carnage tried to kill. Please, stick together. Because if he finds you, he will not hesitate to kill you.” He begged, shuddering at the memories.

Otto nodded, before saying, “Stick together in groups of two at least. Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider, you stay by each other's sides. Harry, stay with Miles. I can keep watch of Peter.” He said calmly.

Suddenly, Peter shot out of Harry’s arms. “MAY!” He shouted in a panic. “Harry- May is still at our house! What if Carnage tries to attack her- or what if-”

“I’ll bring her here Peter, don’t worry about it.” Harry soothed, stroking Peter’s hair. Miles landed outside because he wasn’t going to leave his buddy alone on this little mission.

“Can you bring Scat?” Peter sniffles as Harry got up and put him back in his wheelchair.

“Of course I will,” Harry replied and kissed Peter before going to meet up with Miles outside.

He stepped onto the roof of the Spiders Nest, seeing Miles there too. "Hey, Miles." He greeted. 

Miles smiled. "So we're heading to Peter's place to get his stuff?" He asked. 

Harry nodded. "Yeah, he just realized that Carnage is quite literally on the loose and he's scared he'll hurt May." 

Miles made a face. "He better not."

“Let’s just worry about getting her here right now,” Harry said, getting a nod from Miles.

Miles and Harry got to Peter’s house as fast as they could. They were so relieved when May opened the door. She was quick when told what was going on. 

“I’ll need to pack a few things. We don’t know how long he’ll be out there.” May made her way to the stairs. “Harry, Miles, could you please fill a bag for Peter? It’ll make things go faster.”

"Of course!" Harry replied happily. "Come on."

The two ventured up the stairs, going through his room quickly. He grabbed the protein gel that Peter keeps, Scats food, one of Peter's pillows, his blanket, and his emergency cure kit, the kit that holds all the cures for any allergic reactions he may or may not have. He also begrudgingly grabbed his suit, knowing it may be necessary whether he likes it or not. Harry reached into the tank and grabbed the large spider, who crawled happily into his palm. "Hey, Scat." He greeted happily, petting the spider softly. 

Miles made a surprised face. "Wow, she really likes you. Sort of, she called you dad. But she likes giving you a hard time too." Miles added, stepping over to the spider curiously. 

Harry smiled at that. "Trust me, I know."

Harry could see how entranced he was by Scat. “You want to hold her?” Harry asked, smiling as Miles stumbled.

“I-I mean if it’s okay with her,” Miles said putting out his hand. Scat was hesitant at first then crawled over to Miles. There were a few seconds of silence and then Miles started sniffing.

“What did she say?” Harry asked. “Did she make fun of you?” 

“S-she called me Uncle,” Miles said, now smiling.

Harry laughed fondly. “She’s adorable, isn’t she?” Harry said, patting her abdomen lightly.

Miles nodded, as Harry grabbed a few of Peter’s jackets, shirts, pants, and socks, before shoving them into the bag. “Ready?” He asked Miles, who was still cooing over Scat.

Harry picked up the bag and walked downstairs, seeing May was already waiting in the living room. “Are you boys ready?” She asked.

Harry nodded. “Yep! Let’s head out.”

The group left, May being escorted by the two boys. After a while, the group approached the unmarked building that Otto had purchased to hold the Spiders Nest.

“So this is where Otto works? I sure hope this isn’t also his home.” May’s motherly nature taking over. “He at least needs to get more of these rooms cleans, he’ll attract rats.”

Harry snickered to himself as May continued. She was practically talking about putting up a fundraiser so that Otto could at least clean the other rooms. 

“Don’t worry May, he takes care of the top floor where you and Peter will be staying,” Harry said as they approached the door leading into Otto’s lab. 

The group entered and were met with Peter pacing on the roof and clicking a pen, while occasionally dropping his fidget cube, and catching it before it fell to the ground. Otto sighed in relief. “Finally, he’s been doing this non-stop!” He said. 

Peter looked up, down? And dropped down from the ceiling happily. “Aunt May!” He shouted, enveloping her in a hug. 

“Peter! You should be in your chair!” She scolded lightly.

Peter huffed. “May, I’ve healed enough. I’ll be okay.” 

She still made a face at him. Peter sighed, before sitting down on the floor. “Otto ran out of things for me to do so I’ve been bored.” He said. 

Harry sat down beside him and reached into the bag he packed for Peter, pulling out a Rubik’s cube and handing it to him. Peter perked up happily and immediately began twisting it around happily. 

“Also, look who else is here,” Harry said, before putting Scat on his shoulder. Peter made a sound between a rejoicing scream and a relieved sigh. 

Scat immediately crawled onto Peter’s head and rested happily. Otto stared at Scat and Peter, a concerned and scared look on his face. “Parker, I know you had a pet spider, but why is it here?” He asked uncomfortably.

Peter made a face at otto. “This is my daughter, Scat, thank you very much. She called me her dad.” He said, before putting Scat up to his face and coddling her happily. 

“How would you know?” Otto questioned flatly. 

Peter gave him a confused look. “You didn’t know? One of my powers is to communicate with spiders. I can understand what she's saying and she’s my baby.” He said matter-of-factly.

Otto’s eyes widened. “You can control spiders?! That opens up so many doorways to new opportunities, you can-”

“No, I can’t control spiders.” Peter interrupted. “Communicating and controlling are very different things. I can understand what they’re saying, and sometimes they’ll do what I ask them, but rarely.” 

Scat looked at Otto and Peter gasped. “Where did you learn that?” Peter scolded and took Scat off his head. “Don’t say that ever again.”

“What did she say?” Otto asked.

“You don’t want to know, and Harry, why did you teach her that?” Peter glared and Harry laughed so hard that he began to wheeze. 

“Harry this isn’t funny! She's only two!” He shouted furiously. 

“That spider is two years old?! How long do they live?!” Otto yelped in surprise.

“Shes a Texas Brown Tarantula so she can live up to 40 years,” Peter replied, giving Harry an irritated look.

Otto gaped. “You can’t be serious.”

“Google it.”

“I will, but let’s focus on the matter at hand.” Otto sighed. “Make yourself comfortable, Ms. Parker, we might be here awhile. Harry and Miles, go back on patrol please.” 

Harry and Miles nodded and left, Harry giving Peter another kiss on the forehead. Otto began clicking away on his computer, researching things, mostly spider facts because Peter caused him to think. Peter laughed when he saw what Otto was looking up. “Come on man, researching stuff about spiders is my pass-time. It's how I've figured out all the powers I have. Just ask me.” Peter said jokingly. 

Otto glared at him, as May went upstairs to set up. After a few minutes, May walked back into the lab. She sat down with Peter and continued knitting one of the blankets she’d been working on for the past few weeks now. She began a conversation casually, before asking, “So, I know you use your webs to get around but have you ever made a web for Harry?” 

Peter sputtered in alarm for a moment, before saying, “What?!”

“Well don’t spiders make webs to attract mates?”

“Y-Yes- some do- but- but I- I’m already dating Harry! I-I-I don’t have to make a web for him!” He said flushing.

“But have you ever?” May pressed.

Peter’s face continued to flush darker red. “N-No! Of course not! That’d-that’d be weird!” He yelped, his voice rising in pitch.

May smiled. “Are you lying?” She asked teasingly. 

Scat waved her leg as though to mimic a nod. “She’s calling you out Peter,” May chuckled while smiling and Peter’s face became a darker red.

“I did once! Only once! It was very comfortable and I wanted to share it!” Peter hid his head in his hands.

“It was comfortable. I got stuck to it.” Harry’s voice came from Otto’s computer.

Peter screamed, seeming to have forgotten that the others could hear him, for the second time. Otto chuckled involuntarily, before coughing, and turning away from them. After a few more hours of Peter and May chatting aimlessly, Peter ended up falling asleep, Scat doing so as well in the crook of his arm. He dozed peacefully as May continued chatting quietly with Otto. 

~~~ 

Over the next three days, there had been no sightings of Carnage, but he had made his mark on the city, having killed 3 people in the time frame. Otto had set his sights on containment but was panicking, as they didn’t have many ideas. They could use the Venom container, but that would only work for a very short time, maybe an hour or two at best. “Maybe we can subdue Kasady and Carnage together?” Gwen offered.

The group looked at one another. “What do you mean, Gwen?” Anya asked.

“Like, we subdue them together and trap them somewhere!” 

Peter shrugged. “We’ll have to find somewhere that can keep them both down but they won’t stay bonded. Carnage doesn’t care who his host is, as long as he can function in it. I don’t think it’ll take much for him to abandon Kasady if he really thinks his life is in danger.” 

“Maybe we can use heat? We can like… trap them in a sauna- I don’t know.” Miles sighed.

“Trapping them together will be harder,” Otto warned.

“It’s the only idea I’ve got,” Gwen said.

“We should use the speakers. Turn them up to scare Carnage, but keep them surrounded so if he does try to leave Kasady he can’t escape.” Harry replied.

“What if he tries to bond with us?” Anya questioned.

“He can’t. He can only bond through blood, so don’t let him get in your mouth and don’t get any injuries.” Peter reassured.

Miles nodded. “Okay, keep the mouth closed for once.”

~~~

Two more weeks have passed and no sign of Carnage. It was like he was purposely avoiding all of them, even with the almost constant patrols. Peter was two weeks off of his ADHD medication and while Otto understood, he was admittedly getting slightly annoyed. Okay, really annoyed. The only time he wasn’t speaking or clicking or throwing something was when he was asleep. May had suggested giving Peter caffeine tea or coffee, caffeine being able to help people with ADHD focus. The only thing was that Otto wasn’t much of a coffee or tea drinker so he didn’t have any. 

He let out a very irritated sigh, as Peter complained for the 50th time that day about being bored from being stuck inside. Otto had half a mind to throw something at this child. 

“You know you can’t go out.” Otto stayed through his teeth.

“I know!” Peter groaned. “But it’s so boring in here!” 

“Play with your fidget cube,” Otto said.

“I can’t,” Peter replied.

“Why?” Otto asked.

“I may or may not have broken it,” Peter admitted sheepishly.

Otto froze. “What about the other four or five that Harry had brought?” 

Peter went silent. “Parker what about the other four or five fidget cubes that Harry had brought with him.”

“I think you know..” 

Otto sighed, barely containing his irritation, when the screens lit up, displaying an incoming call. “Hello?” He answered.

“We got something on the west side,” Miles reported. “It matches Kasady’s description and has the same pheromones as Carnage.” 

“I’ll alert Gwen and Anya. Stay on call and do not engage.” Otto said now hit call to the girls.

They answered quickly. "What's up doc?" Gwen chirped. 

Otto sighed, before saying, "Miles and Harry found him on the western side of Harlem, they're tracking him but not engaging. Go with them. I'm sending their coordinates now." He informed. 

"Got it!" Anya shouted, disconnecting. 

Otto sends them the coordinates, as Peter stood up, and walked in a tight circle before staring fearfully at the screens. "They'll be fine, Parker," Otto said, moving back from the screens, a worried look on his face. 

Peter hummed fearfully as he began to tap his foot. "But what if they're not…" He whimpered.

“They have each other and my spider bots,” Otto reassured. In reality, he knew that those alone wouldn’t be enough to stop Carnage completely, but he didn’t want to upset Peter even more.

“Otto, you don’t know his thought process. He’s twisted, but he’s methodical.” Peter swallowed. “His thoughts are nightmares that could come true with enough push. It’s how he held me with him for so long. Every time I thought I could escape, he’d make me think of the worst things that could happen to you guys.” 

Peter took a deep breath and closed his eyes, not wanting to speak anymore. There was a tight feeling in his throat building and if he pushed himself anymore he’d have a full-on breakdown. Otto could see the stress in Peter's face. He sent one of the Spider Bots upstairs. Peter watched the bot disappear through the stairs for a minute, before reappearing with Señor Trunks. Immediately he smiled as the bot dropped it at his feet. He hugged the stuffed elephant close. "Thanks,"

"You’re welcome," Otto replied curtly. 

He watched Peter shift before sitting down on the floor, hugging the plush close, a small smile plastered on his face. He was beginning to relax. 

~~~

Harry landed on the rooftop of a building near where Kasady and Carnage were. He was confused. They had practically cornered themselves between two abandoned buildings in an alleyway. Miles waited beside him impatiently as Gwen and Anya made their way over to join them. "What do you think he's doing?" Harry asked, looking in Carnage's direction. 

"Probably evil stuff," Miles replied, attempting to lighten the mood. 

Harry chuckled, despite his discomfort for waiting. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Gwen and Anya landed next to them. “Did he do anything yet?” Gwen whispered.

“Not as far as we’re aware,” Harry answered. A few spider bots appeared and gave them what seemed to be a nod. “Come on, let's go.”

Harry glided down and held out his flame sword in front of him. The others were right next to him, Gwen and Anya hold subwoofers and Miles ready to shock. Kasady looked behind himself and saw them.

“Hello, I don’t believe I’ve met at least two of you.” He said rather calmly. “Cletus Kasady, full-time murder. I guess that you already knew that, so who are you?”

“All you need to know is that you’re going back to jail,” Anya replied, hostility present in her voice.

“Okay.” He smiled and put his hands up. His actions confused the vigilantes. Harry approached with caution. He didn’t want a repeat of last time. 

"Miles- call Ms. Marvel," Harry said to the spider. 

He nodded, watching Kasady closely as he pulled out his phone and dialed her number. Harry approached slowly but froze when he heard Kasady mutter something under his breath. "Tick...tock…tick...tock…" 

Suddenly, Gwen let out a cry of alarm and ran to grab Harry, yanking him backward, as a nearby dumpster exploded. Kasady began laughing loudly. "NOW THERE'S ONE HELL OF A SHOW!" He screamed as Carnage covered his body. 

None of them were injured, but they could hear more explosions nearby. _He's trying to draw Peter out!_ Harry immediately called Otto. "OTTO- DON'T LET PETER OUT OF THE SPIDERS NEST!" He shouted as he boarded his glider and headed to the sounds of the other explosions, knowing civilians could get hurt. 

~~~

Peter shot up at that. "Harry- what's happening?!" He shouted. 

He had been watching all of them on the screens. There was a feeling of unease that wasn’t calmed by his spider senses going off. It was like when he would sit down and watch a scary movie, his spider senses would tell him when a scare was coming but it still surprised him. 

He received no reply, meaning Harry had already disconnected. His attention turned to Otto’s screen, millions of police reports coming in at once on the same subject. There were explosions around the city. They were all meeting places or big public places and news helicopters were broadcasting it immediately. They showed people fleeing from the places and the fires caused by the blast. 

“I have to get out there,” Peter said standing only to be yanked down by one of Otto’s metallic arms.

“No! That’s what he wants!” Otto almost yelled. “If he gets you alone then we don’t know what he’d do!” 

“I don’t care about that! Whatever he does to me I deserve.” Peter tried pulling away, but Otto had a tight grip on him. 

“You don’t deserve what he can do to you, Parker!” He yelled.

“Yes, I do!” Peter yelled back.

“Tell me why? Why do you think that you deserve to be mauled or worse? Wh-“

“BECAUSE HE HAD ME BUILD THOSE BOMBS,” Peter yelled and Otto went silent besides the news broadcast.

He began crying. "He had me build them. I know it. Where else would he have gotten them?" 

There were footsteps and May was beside Peter. She didn't entirely know what was happening, she'd been reading upstairs, but she heard Peter and she knew something was wrong. She wrapped her arms around Peter as he began crying. She ran her fingers through his hair, feeling him tremble violently. Otto watched in amazement as May did her best to console Peter, before he texted Harry, telling him what was happening. He silently prayed that Harry would respond quickly, and turned to man the Spider Bots, knowing May could hold Peter's leash. 

Within minutes, Harry was back at the Spiders Nest. He turned to see Peter crying. He quickly ran to Peter's side. "Bug- hey bug what happened?" He asked gently, turning Peter's eyes to meet his. 

Peter shook his head, crying. "It's my fault, Harry…" 

“No it’s not.” Harry said firmly.

“But I-“ Harry pressed a finger to Peter’s lips.

“No, you weren’t in control when Carnage was with you.” Harry said, his hands holding Peter’s face. “None of this is your fault.” 

May hugged Peter tighter. “Peter, you can’t blame yourself for everything that happens. You can only do so much.” 

Peter whimpered unhappily, but snuggled into May’s arms. “It’ll be okay Pete. I promise.” Harry murmured, grabbing his hands and giving him a reassuring smile.

Peter whimpered softly. “I hope you’re right…”

~~~

Kasady watched the spiders work quickly and effectively to get people away from the bombs. But despite the chaos, there was no sign of Spider-Man, which irritated him greatly. Carnage snarled furiously at the lack of results. He watched the young male black-suited spider look around, before shouting something to the two females. He didn’t want to give chase, but it seemed as if he had no other choice. He growled in irritation but followed the young boy. He followed him to an unmarked building. He watched from the shadows as the boy looked around hesitantly, before entering the building through an open balcony. He sighed irritated, knowing it would be stupid to try walking into the building. If this was their base, then it was likely heavily guarded. It’d be better to wait for Spider-Man to leave on his own. He growled, but sat down, waiting for him to exit.

~~~

The group had decided that it was best to put Peter in full lockdown. Peter understood why but he was still complaining. He was filled with energy and he was starting to get annoyed with himself having it been another week.

“He won’t keep asking to go out.” Miles sighed. “He’ll find a way to leave without us knowing.”

“He won’t. I have sensors in there. If a window breaks or opens when not permitted then his room will go into instant lockdown.” Otto said casually.

“Otto, this is Peter we’re talking about.” Miles reminded.

Miles shook his head. “He’s practically a caged animal at this point. Peter’s always been pretty social, and at some point being locked up here is gonna do some harm. He’s been in here for like- a third of the sumer at this point.” 

Otto gave him a hesitant look. He knew Miles was right, but he also knew Peter leaving would be really dangerous. “He has a Rubik’s cube.” He attempted to justify. 

Miles sighed loudly. “Yeah, one that he’s solved hundreds of times over. I know you know that he needs to go outside. Harry and I will stick with him, but he needs action. Not to mention the city is thinking that Spider-Man abandoned them.” He argued.

Harry stepped forward. “Yeah Otto, as much as I don’t like the idea, he’s gotta go out and get some fresh air. More so for his safety than anything, and if we don’t let him he’ll find a way to do it himself. You don’t know how sneaky he really can be if he tries.”

Otto scowled. “I’ve seen his powers before, I’ve come up with a countermeasure to everything he could possibly do-”

“Did you come up with a countermeasure for him just bashing through the window? Believe me, he’d do it. He can get past your measures if he really wants to.” Miles warned. 

Otto thought for a bit and let out a defeated sigh. “You promise not to leave his side? Not even for a second?” Otto asked already knowing the answer.

“Of course.” Miles and Harry said concurrently. 

“Alright, go get him. I’ll tell May what’s going on. Be safe.” Otto went back to his computer, planning to take the heat from May once Peter was gone. She’d understand but he’d have to answer her concerns and would much rather have Peter getting his energy out. 

Peter was laying on the mattress looking board as Scat sat on his chest. He was holding a book over his head and reading it. Knowing him, he’d probably have read it four or five times already. “Pete- get your suit on, we’re going out.” Harry called.

Peter looked up, a look of disbelief on his face. “You’re kidding!” He shouted. He saw their amused expressions, before gasping, “OH MY GOD YOU’RE NOT KIDDING!” He nearly screamed.

Harry laughed as Peter shot up, carefully setting Scat down and telling her to stay there. He was grinning like a madman as he ran to his backpack and began rifling through it excitedly. He yanked out his suit and sprinted into the bathroom, Harry and Miles wheezing behind him. This was the fastest they’ve ever seen Peter move.

Peter came out of the bathroom in his suit. “Come on!” He cheered and ran towards the closest opening and jumped out. Harry and Miles were close to him as he swung from building to building.

They soon understood that saying that he was just energetic was an understatement. He was helping anyone who needed it and seeing how far he could swing. As Harry watched Peter do his third flip in a row, he felt a tinge of guilt. They had kept him cooped up with nothing to do for more than three weeks in the Spiders Nest, not to mention the extra week in the hospital. How long had he been longing for this moment? “Come on Spidey! We should head to your house to pick up other stuff you need. Your meds and more food for Scat.” Harry called.

Harry could practically see Peter’s grin. “Yes!” He shouted, zooming off towards his house.

The two struggled to catch up to Peter, who must’ve been going at least 90mph and stopping every second he could to help someone, no matter how trivial the task. He even stopped to help a kid get his toy from another kid who had taken it. They hadn’t even been arguing, just glaring at each other.

They got into Peter’s backyard without anyone noticing. Peter opened the back door and entered the dark house. It was cool in there, obviously because of the lack of people. Peter went to the kitchen immediately to get his meds out of the pill cabinet. He hesitated, before taking two pills and proceeding to run to his room. Harry watched with mild amusement as he shuffled around the messy room, looking for something, before stopping. “Goddamn I totally destroyed my room.” 

Harry began laughing. “This is after I cleaned it.”

Peter looked up. “After fucking what now?” 

“I came back here and tried looking for something that could lead to why you didn’t tell us.” Harry responded. “Then I saw your phone shattered and I guess I had my answer.”

“He threatened you all.” Peter shivered at the memories of Carnage. “He decided on who I talked to. May was the only exception because she’d get worried. I’m glad she got worried. That sounds rude, doesn’t it?”

“I understand what you mean.” Harry patted Peter’s back. If she hadn’t have Peter could still be attached to Carnage.

Peter visibly shuttered, before taking a deep breath. “Where’s Scats’ treats?” He asked aloud, before hopping over near her tank. 

Harry shrugged. “I think you ran out.”

“What are her treats?” Miles asked.

“Usually I give her small insects since that’s what she’d eat in the wild, but I found out that she also likes to eat lizards so I have small dried lizard chunks for her. I gotta wet them before she can actually eat them but she loves them." Peter rambled. 

“Yeah, we’re picking insects. I don’t think I could handle carrying lizard chunks.” Miles half gagged.

Peter began searching his room for things to grab. He got fresh pairs of clothes, his laptop, and things to entertain himself with. Also Scat’s box, not her tank, just a box. For some reason unknown to anyone, Scat loved that box. After a small argument, he convinced Miles to stop at a local pet store with him to get lizard chunks. Though Peter was the one who carried all of it. He kept doing the tricks and was more than happy to help with any issues. He stopped to walk with a woman who thought a man was following her. Whether it was a coincidence or she was really being followed, the man she was worried about took the subway almost immediately as Peter started walking with her. 

After almost three hours of Miles and Harry barely managing to keep up with Peter, they finally convinced Peter to go back to the Spiders Nest, despite his arguments. 

“Ah shit,” Peter mumbled to himself on a rooftop.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Harry asked instantly worried.

“Oh I’m fine, I just ran out of webs,” Peter responded. He tried again to shoot his webs but all that came out was a ‘puff’ and then a ‘hiss’.

It would be a while before they could get back since they were clear across New York. Harry picked Peter up bridal style and held him close. They had used Peter's backpack to carry everything so he was clutching it happily to his chest. As they made their way to the Spiders Nest, Harry noticed that both Peter and Miles had become fidgety and were looking around. "Are you two okay?" Harry asked, pausing to look at them. 

Miles looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah we're fine. Or at least I am. You good Pete?"

Peter hesitated. "Eh..?" He said doing a so-so motion. "I feel like we're being followed and it’s uncomfortable." 

Miles stopped and gave Peter a surprised look. "So wait I'm not just imagining that?"

Peter shook his head. "Nah…" 

“We should keep going. Get you back to safety.” Miles pushed, getting a nod from both of them. “Wow, you aren’t saying anything thing sassy to that. I thought you would-“ Before Miles could finish, he was pulled down onto a building. His landing made a loud thud.

“MILES?!” Harry yelled and flew towards him. When he got close to Miles, a red tendril had knocked him back and caused him to lose his grip on Peter.

“HAR-“ the wind was knocked out of Peter as another red tendril pulled him to a different rooftop. He landed on his stomach and slid slightly. Peter tried to get up, but felt a weight pushing on his back.

“ _Well, well, well. You REALLY don’t make it easy, now do ya Parker?_ ” Carnage growled in Peter’s ear as he grabbed his neck.

"PETER!" Harry screamed when he saw Carnage holding Peter down. 

Miles touched his comm, as Harry launched towards Carnage. "GUYS CARNAGE IS HERE! WE NEED BACKUP NOW!" He screamed into the comm, before sprinting to Peter's aid. 

Harry lunged for Carnage when Peter let out a pained cry, as Carnage sunk his claws into Peter's throat. " _I'd back up if I were you._ " He hissed. 

The two froze, not knowing whether to attack or not. Peter attempted to struggle when Carnage pressed harder onto Peter's back. He let out a pained groan as he practically felt his ribs bend under the pressure. Carnage leaned forward and hissed softly, " _I wouldn't fight me too much, last time you did that your 'precious' boyfriend stabbed you._ " 

Peter jolted at the memory, before growling softly, still attempting to escape Carnage's grip. “ _I mean, what type of boyfriend would knowing stab his boyfriend in the gut? He doesn’t care for you! He never has! You do remember how easy it was for him to just go ahead and stab you, correct? Or do I need to remind you?_ ”

Peter knew he meant bonding with him and he started to shake. No way in hell does he want to go through all of that again, but he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Carnage had him pinned so it was his call whether or not it would happen.

Harry was able to hear Carnage’s comments through the comms. A mix of guilt and rage started to build up inside of him. One thing was for sure, he was going to make sure Carnage never spoke again.

“ _But you did deserve it. After all, you’re just like me and Kasady, a murderer!_ ” Carnage cackled in Peter’s ear. “ _Killing your own uncle! You may have not been the man with the gun, but he was your weapon!_ ”

Tears built up in Peter’s eyes, as he attempted to kick off Carnage again, only for the dark red tendril to pierce his gut, warning him to stay down. “ _I don’t understand why anyone chooses to stay with you after how horribly you’ve treated them. Especially Harry. After all, it is your fault his father is dead._ ”

At that, Harry couldn’t sit still any longer. In a blind rage, he launched at Carnage, knocking him over and off of Peter. When Carnage released him, Peter immediately stood up and attempted to stagger away, his side and neck bleeding. Before he could get far, Carnage let out a furious roar and stretched out his arm. Peter whipped around, his spidey sense screaming for him to move when he was knocked over onto his back. He let out an agonized scream as Carnage sent a spear straight through his shoulder, pinning him to the concrete roof. Harry froze, not knowing whether to attack again or hold back. He took a slight step forward, hissing furiously when Carnage dragged Peter to his side by looping his tendril around the inside his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulder and clawed it.“ _Do it!_ ” He challenged. “ _Hit me again! You’ll love what happens next, and he will too._ ” 

The group froze. They didn’t know what Carnage meant by that, but they didn’t want to find out. In Carnage’s moment of distraction, Miles crept up from behind, camouflaged, and electrocuted him. Carnage let out a loud, almost satisfying scream. Miles held the electrocution, despite that it was likely hurting Peter too. 

Peter let out small multiple gasps and spasmed, the constant shock not allowing him to scream. Carnage’s tendril retracted and Peter fell to the ground. He was able to crawl a good distance away before collapsing. Spider bots instantly got to his side and started assisting with aiding the wound.

Carnage growled at Peter’s escape and was able to shoot a tendril out of his back. It wrapped around Miles’ arm and threw him over his head. “ _You think a little shock could kill me? I’ve been in the electric chair before!_ ” Carnage sneered.

Harry took a step back while Miles groaned, but was quick to stand up and move away from Carnage. As strong as they were united, Carnage was stronger. Peter froze and looked up. “Do you guys hear that?” He murmured softly aloud.

Miles, having heard Peter, straightened up slightly. He didn’t reply, but the way his eyes widened conveyed his thoughts. He heard it too. Before he could question it, he heard a loud shout, “Do you need help?” 

Peter looked up to see Kamala, Ms. Marvel, land behind him. After Miles had contacted her the week before, she had kept close contact. Otto must’ve called her when they called for backup. She was quickly followed by Anya, who landed in front of Peter, immediately put her fists up. “Of course they need help!” She shouted.

Gwen landed next quickly, her eyes squinting with determination. “Well, What are we doing just standing? Let’s help!”

At her words, they all sprung into action. Ms. Marvel jumped and knocked Carnage down while Gwen and Anya got the subwoofers into place. Miles and Harry dragged Peter to a place he could rest on the roof. Removing him completely could cause Carnage to flee and wait for another chance to strike.

Peter let out a groan as they rested him on the side to an entrance the lead to the roof. “How’s he looking?” Harry asked the Spider Bots.

“He’ll survive, he just needs to rest.” Otto’s voice came through. “The bots will stay here, you two get back to the fight.”

“No, I’ll-“ Peter put his hand on Harry’s cheek, or where it would be without his helmet, stopping him from finishing his sentence.

“I’ll be okay.” Peter assured. “Go help them.”

Harry held Peter’s hand to his cheek and let out a shaky breath and nodded. “Stay safe.”

“Don’t worry, I will. You stay safe.” Peter smiled softly. “That goes for you too Miles.” Miles hesitated before nodding.

Ms. Marvel attempted to trap Carnage in her fists, but Carnage was clawing at her hands, cutting them and her hands open whenever she tried to avoid him. After a moment, Gwen finally managed to activate the speakers, making Carnage stumble. Carnage screamed against the speakers and attempted to destroy them, only to be stopped by Harry, who drew his sword and was quick to cut through the red tendril, dismembering it. Carnage let out another furious cry. He knew he was losing and it pissed him off. He snarled, looking every which way while covering his ears. Gwen turned up the volume, seeing that Carnage was getting more aggressive. Carnage screamed again.

Peter stared wide-eyed as his form wavered. It was like watching the water ripple when suddenly Carnage let out another scream, this one much louder. Peter covered his ears, when several spikes shot out of Carnages body in every direction, breaking through everything they came in contact with. They were able to push away the heroes far enough for him to stand. Peter screamed and rolled over as one of the spikes barely missed going through his stomach. The tendril came back and wrapped around Peter’s waist and then went down. It tightened around his ankle and pulled. 

Out of fear, Peter grabbed one of the spider bot’s legs. He wasn’t surprised when it snapped off, but he was hoping for the slim chance that it wouldn’t. He tried sticking to the ground, but Carnage wouldn’t give him the chance. As the others got up and prepared to fight, Peter was already his grasp. He was holding Peter by the shoulders to keep him still as more tendrils shot out of his back, sharper than the others before. 

He let out a terrified scream as Carnage tightened his grip. In a moment of panic and instinct, Peter let out a terrified and angry hiss, before gripping the leg and pushing it into Carnages chest. Carnage screeched and dropped Peter, who held fast to the now bloodied leg of the spider-bot. Carnage took an alarmed step backward as Peter refused to stop there. He charged at Carnage, plunging the leg into Carnages side, as he pushed him full-force backward.

Miles knew what was happening. With new spider DNA came a new set of instincts and urges to control. Peter's fight or flight instincts were in full control and he'd chosen to fight, and he wouldn't stop until one of two things happened. Carnage was killed, or he was too injured to fight. Peter had helped him learn to control this 'feral' side to them, and he'd experienced how terrifying it could be to lose control. It's like being in thick fog. It's hard to breathe, you can't see, but you know something is happening. You can hear it, and you know something is coming for you, but you can't stop it. It's a rush of fear and panic and there's nothing you can do to stop the fear from coming. 

He ran forward and grabbed Peter, pulling him back away from Carnage, who has subsided to bleeding, angry, Cletus Kasady. Peter was kicking at Miles to drop him, only for Miles to hold him tighter.

He looked at his friends for help only to see them all staring at Peter in shock. Of course they would. Peter was sweet and kind, he’d never hurt someone to the extent of putting them into a hospital with the intention to do so. But now, now he was showing that he wanted to do much more to Kasady.

“I could use a little help!” Miles hollered at them as Peter begins to get out of his grip slightly. 

Harry was in front of Peter almost immediately. He grabbed Peter's face gently and pulled off his mask. Peter flinched at that but didn't push him away. Harry looked him in the eyes. His eyes were pinned out and he was breathing heavily. So pinned out that his eyes were almost only green, a pure dangerous green. "Hey bug, it’s me." He whispered softly to Peter, who stared at Carnage, hissing furiously. 

Harry turned Peter's face to him. "Hey, hey look at me." He whispered softly. 

Peter glanced at him, before growling and looking at Carnage again. Harry blocked his view. "Eyes on me bug, hey. Just look at me." He murmured gently. 

Harry glances at Miles and nodded, signaling for him to let him go. Miles gave him a questioning look but complied. He knew Peter better than anyone around them. His grip loosened and Peter tried to push through Harry to get to Carnage. Without his armor, Peter would have no doubt knocked him down. He was just pushed back slightly, his boots skidding on the ground before they locked into the ground to steady him. Harry wrapped one arm around Peter’s waist and kept one hand on his face.

“He won’t hurt you, bug. Focus on me.” Harry whispered softly. Peter finally looked at Harry as he began rubbing Peter’s cheekbone with his thumb.

Peter made a noise, almost like a whimper as Harry ran his fingers through Peter's hair, careful to keep his movements slow. He leaned down and kissed Peter's cheek softly before gently nuzzling him. He was hesitant, but after a few moments Peter dropped the leg and wrapped his arms around Harry, taking slow breaths before beginning to hiccup, and Harry knew Peter was in control again. 

The rest of the group kept Carnage surrounded. Whenever he tried to get past one of them Gwen would turn up the speakers, rendering him immobile. Carnage let the group see half of Kasady’s face. He glanced over and saw Peter and Harry and began to laugh. 

“ _I knew you had it in you! We’re one in the same!_ ” Kasady cackled. Peter’s embrace became tighter around Harry at his words. He knew that it wasn’t true, but for a second, the thought of stabbing Kasady thrilled him. He shook it off quickly, however, not wanting to think about sinking as low as Kasady.

Harry sighed, seeming irritated. "Ignore him." He murmured softly as he covered Peter's ears. He knew it wouldn't do much, what with his enhanced hearing, but it was an attempt. 

Harry looked over his shoulder. "You guys keep him busy, I'm gonna go get one if the containers that held Venom. It'll hold him for a little while." Harry called.

"Got it!" Miles called back. 

Harry picked up Peter and brought him to the Spiders Nest so Otto could tend to his wounds. He took one of the containment chambers before Otto stopped him. "Take this." He said, handing him a containment chamber. 

It was black with a few green outlines. "This will be able to hold Carnage for longer than those will. It still won’t hold him forever though, I'm currently working on a more permanent solution." Otto told him. 

Harry nodded, as Otto quickly showed him how it worked, before sending him off. Harry looked back while on his glider, seeing Otto cleaning Peter's wounds. He smiled slightly then sped off towards the others. 

When he got closer, he could see that Ms. Marvel had formed a square around Carnage with her arm. He wasn’t attacking. All he was doing was laughing now and then. Harry landed an irritated look on his face. "I got the container. Let’s get Carnage in here in the most painful way possible." He called. 

The others laughed, even though they all knew it wasn't a joke. They weren't against the idea much either though. Gwen turned the volume full blast. Carnage let out a pained cry, and after almost a full minute he separated himself from Kasady. Ms. Marvel steered clear of Carnage since he could enter her through the wounds on her hands and arms. Miles shocked Carnage and after a bit of maneuvering, they managed to get him into the container. They all let out a relieved sigh in unison. "Now what?" Anya asked.

"Now we deliver this piece of shit to the hospital. As much as I'd like to leave him up here, Peter would probably kill us." Harry growled.

Anya nodded. "Miles explained that the Spider DNA makes him lose control sometimes, though that's never happened to us." 

Miles scoffed. "Give it time, next time you're in a situation that you actually think you're gonna die, you'll feel it." 

"So who wants to bring him to the hospital?" Ms. Marvel asked. 

Nobody replied. They all gave each other uncomfortable looks, none of them wanting to go anywhere near Kasady, let alone help him. 

“I'll take him to the hospital.” Ms. Marvel sighed. “I don’t the exacts of what happened or what he did to Peter, but I know leaving him with one of you could cause some trouble. Not that I’m calling you feral, it’s just a precaution.”

Harry nodded to her. "Thanks. And, not to throw all the work onto you, but can you take Carnage to the Avengers? God knows they'll be able to hold him better than we can, at least until Otto’s finished with that perminant solution." He asked. 

Ms. Marvel nodded. "Yeah, now you all go check on Spidey, I can imagine he's upset." 

Gwen nodded. "She's right. Not to mention there's a lot we still have to unpack about this entire thing that we just haven't talked about. Like, you know, why we trust Otto, and how Peter is Spider-Man, you know, the works." Gwen added, glaring at Harry who put his hands up. 

Anya nodded. "A lot to talk about indeed." 

“You all haven’t talked about that yet?”

“We’ve been too focused on trying to catch this piece of shit to worry about anything else.”

Harry sighed. "Alright alright, let's just get back to the Spiders Nest and we can work this out."

"Wait!" Miles shouted before leaping off the side of the building. 

Harry watched for a moment, before Miles returned, holding Peter's backpack. "Spidey dropped this when he fell." He replied. 

Miles cringed as he realized the lizard chunks were probably spilled everywhere. "Ew…" 

“Don’t be such a baby. The chunks are dried and knowing how Scat is, she’ll eat them in under an hour.” Harry assured. 

Miles handed the bag to Harry. “I don’t care, you’re holding it.” 

Gwen approached the two boys. "Anya's going to tell the police we have Kasady and I'm going to bring the speakers back to my house."

Harry nodded. "Alright. You two be safe."

Gwen and Anya nodded back. "You guys too. Don't let that _thing_ get loose." Anya growled at the container that Miles was holding. 

Harry nodded. "We will be." He said, glaring at Carnage with the same malice. 

Harry rolled his eyes at Miles, who was still glaring daggers at the bag and continued to the Spiders Nest with Miles close behind. The bag felt slightly lighter. Something either fell out or broke while the fight was happening. After a few minutes, they arrived at the Spiders Nest. Peter immediately smiled at their return. "Is everyone okay?" He asked immediately. 

"Yeah, we're all okay," Harry promised, wrapping his arms around Peter. 

He let out a relieved sigh. It was finally over. 

“Peter! You’re not done with being patched up!” May ushered Peter back into his seat and continued to him up. Harry laughed slightly before going through Peter’s bag, remembering that his ADHD pills were still in there. If they had been crushed then Peter would definitely be upset. Luckily that wasn’t the case. However, it was the case for his laptop. 

Peter caught Harry’s shit-eating grin and looked at what he was holding. He had heard a crack from his backpack when he was pulled down but he hadn’t focused on it. Now he knew that it was his laptop.

“Shit.” Peter groaned as Harry’s grin grew. He had been trying to get Peter a new one for years and now he had a chance to get him one, and he hated that.


End file.
